The dissertation aims to historically locate and think in critical terms the production in drawing by Ivens Machado. The author considers that the artist s contribution to the history of art, especially in the Brazilian context, is evidenced by the themes addressed, in addition to the formal innovations contained in his works. The civilmilitary dictatorship, the context in which the artist produced, is also a decisive factor for this observation, since many of his works explain the relations between subjectivity and the oppression of the educational and political system of the time. The author focuses its analysis on works produced from the 1960s to the year 1980. Despite the focus being placed on the drawings, works in sculpture and video are also approached, as a way of thinking the guiding principle of Machado s poetics. The subjects covered in the drawings, as well as some formal elements, are appreciated in the light of anthropological and historical theories, as well as thought in parallel with the production of contemporary artists to Ivens Machado. The text follows an essayistic approach, respecting, to a largeextent, the order of appearance of the insights and approximations made.