Graduated from the Brazilian Fine Arts National School in Rio where he studied from 1972 till 1977, Fernando Emmanuel Barata Filho, a painter and a designer, participates, as early as 1974, (aged 23), to the Summer Show, the 25th National Exhibition of Modern Art of São Paulo, and to the National Biennale in 1976.
After travelling throughout Europe, the Americas and the USA, he decides, in 1982, to settle down in Paris where he has been exhibiting since then, on a great number of occasions.
Fernando Barata also participates to the 1st Biennale of La Havana, in 1984, where he obtains a Special Mention of the Jury, and is awarded a prize at the 18th International Biennale of Sao Paulo in 1985.
In 1986, the Luiza Strina and Monica Filgueiras Art Gallerys in São Paulo organize a solo exhibition of Barata’s works.
In 1990, he paints a mural for the Artois-Picardie Regional Agency for Water, in Douai (France).
Selected for the Fortabat Price, a “Maison de l'Amérique Latine in Paris” award, his work is also praised at the Michelin International Grand Prix of Modern Art in 1998.