Gallery artist Mario Cravo Neto, critically considered among the most influential Brazilian artists of his time, died August 10, 2009 in Salvador, Bahia, after an extended illness. Cravo Neto exhibited internationally in leading museums and galleries, and festivals, among them the Palazzo Fortuny, Venice in 1988, Daros-Latin America Collection in 2003 and Rencontres d'Arles in 2005. He was the subject of exhibitions at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP), São Paulo in 1995; Photo España, Madrid,1998 and the Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas in 2003.
Mario Cravo Neto is a part of the group exhibition Négritude at Exit Art in New York City. The show explores the visionary 20th century political and artistic movement of the same name. The exhibition runs through July 25, 2009.