In 1979, while still in Brasilia, Rubem Valentim created the Syncretic Landmark of Afro-Brazilian Culture, a large concrete sculpture, over 8,5 metres tall, that was permanently installed at Praça da Sé in the centre of São Paulo.
Three years later, in 1982, the artist began dividing his time between Brasilia and São Paulo. During these years there is a notable influence in his work of sacred symbols from Umbanda and visual elements drawn from Indigenous cultures, and his work with screen printing led to a popularisation of his art.
Valentim’s interest in social structures that access the spiritual continued, and he advanced his studies of other belief systems, such as the Chinese divinatory system I Ching, and the esoteric Order of the Rosicrucians, a mystical and philosophical movement with roots in seventeenth-century Europe. In his notebooks the artist revealed his interest in holistic, magical and alchemical symbols, and in his emblems he experimented with the use of mandalas and other esoteric or ritualistic forms.
In his final years, the artist continued to explore the relationship between geometry, colour and visual and cultural references of Afro-Brazilian symbols and symbols of other origins, resulting in a syncretism with universal aspirations.