Former cart driver in Belo Horizonte, Quim opens “Precise Unconscious” at Mangabeiras Palace, showing color-led paintings from March 8 to June 7, 2026.
Presented by Papazoglu Galeria, “Quim: Precise Unconscious” is the first solo show by Joaquim Dimas Fidelis, a self-taught Minas Gerais artist whose work speaks to Brazil’s naïf tradition while building a distinct voice.
On view at Parque do Palácio, part of the Mangabeiras Palace grounds, the exhibition brings together paintings made through an intuitive process guided by color, memory, and imagination.
Naïf art and a “precise unconscious”
Curator Sarah Ruach says the strength of the canvases lies in their formal freedom and their pull toward overlooked everyday life. She states: “Quim nos convida ao encantamento do simples e à sedução do cotidiano esquecido. Sua pintura constrói uma coreografia delicada entre memória, cor e imaginação, onde a ingenuidade se afirma como potência”.
Ruach describes his method as a “precise unconscious”: images appear without a plan, yet find balance and structure in the act of painting itself, as the composition organizes in real time.
How Quim paints: color first
The process begins with color, before any drawing. With the canvas on his lap, Quim mixes paint directly on the surface and lets the image take shape as he works.
“Eu mesmo, na realidade, nem sei o que eu tô pintando quando pego o pincel. Tudo que vem da mente eu vou pintando. E só depois de um tempo vou reconhecer o desenho”.
Intense chromatic fields often build horizontally banded scenes that split sky and land. Mountains show up as blocks of color, trees repeat like graphic signs, and small human figures inhabit landscapes that merge rural and urban references.
Finding a gallery partner
Costantino Papazoglu, director of Papazoglu Galeria and project coordinator, says the artist’s identity arrived fully formed. “Há artistas que passam anos buscando uma identidade visual. O Quim já começou com a dele. A força do trabalho está na capacidade de transformar lembranças simples em imagens que permanecem. Existe uma verdade ali que não é ensaiada, é vivida”, he says.
The connection began in early 2025, when Papazoglu visited collector Rildo Faria’s gallery and paused in front of a wall of small canvases—one stood out for its formal economy and vibrating color.
Days later, meeting the artist and seeing the body of work covering the walls of his home confirmed a language already in place. “Desde aquele primeiro momento, compreendi que estava diante de uma obra que não precisava ser construída — ela já existia com verdade e consistência. Escolher o Quim para inaugurar a programação da Galeria Papazoglu é uma declaração de princípios: acreditamos na força da autenticidade e na potência da arte que nasce da experiência vivida”, he adds.
The book “Quim” launches with the show
“Precise Unconscious” also coincides with the release of the book “Quim”, a publication dedicated to the artist, bringing together critical texts, images of the works, and reflections on his trajectory.
From manual labor to painting
Joaquim Dimas Fidelis was born in 1958 in Nelson de Sena, a district of São João Evangelista in the Vale do Rio Doce region of Minas Gerais. With limited formal schooling, he started working early, helping his father in the fields and breaking stones by age seven.
As a child, he made practical wooden objects. In his teens he moved away in search of work, and in Belo Horizonte he took on many jobs—cart driver, construction helper, bricklayer, and house painter—experiences that expanded his visual repertoire and sharpened his sense of color.
He began painting on canvas in 2017 after a small work drew attention from friends and supporters. Since June 2025, he has dedicated himself fully to painting, underscoring the vitality of contemporary Brazilian naïf art.
Service information
Quim: Precise Unconscious
Venue: Parque do Palácio – Av. Djalma Guimarães, 161, Gate 2 – Mangabeiras, Belo Horizonte (MG), Brazil
Dates: March 8 to June 7, 2026
Hours: Wednesday to Friday, 10am to 6pm; Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 6pm
Admission: check with Parque do Palácio (@parquedopalacio)
Instagram: @papazoglugaleria
Photo: Courtesy
