All posts tagged: MUNDANO

Brazil’s Mundano: “Operários de Brumadinho’’, Workers, and Loose Regulatory Environments / Dispatch From Isolation #13

Brazil’s Mundano: “Operários de Brumadinho’’, Workers, and Loose Regulatory Environments / Dispatch From Isolation #13

As reported this week “The Environmental Protection Agency announced a sweeping relaxation of environmental rules in response to the coronavirus pandemic, allowing power plants, factories and other facilities to determine for themselves if they are able to meet legal requirements on reporting air and water pollution.

This is called disaster capitalism. It’s an actual thing – first gaining notoriety perhaps in Naomi Klein’s book “The Shock Doctrine”.

It involves taking advantage of a monstrous shock to our social and economic system while we are too preoccupied to stop them. People behind corporations actually “game” the future like this – methodically planning to force through changes to society that they always wanted but couldn’t find an acceptable justification for while you were looking. A crime committed right under your nose – while you are worrying about losing your job or paying your rent or your grandma getting sick from Covid-19.

Mundano. Brumadinho. Vale do Rio Doce/Paraopeba River, Brazil (photo © André D’elia)

In the case of today’s story of a Brazillian Street Artist named Mundano, the earth, and soil that he used to paint his new mural comes from the region destroyed by a dam break of toxic sludge last January. With hundreds of townspeople and workers swept away by tens of millions of tons of toxic sludge and earth, the people of the area held searches for weeks after and had public meetings full of accusations and fury.  They also had funerals.

A similar dam owned by the same company had failed only three years earlier, and many more dams like this are holding immense reservoirs, or poison underground lakes, across Brazil – each potentially breaking apart and poisoning land, water, wildlife, and communities for decades after.  

Mundano. Brumadinho. Vale do Rio Doce/Paraopeba River, Brazil (photo © André D’elia)

Mundano’s mural honors the workers killed in this man-made environmental disaster and he tells us that the 800 square meter piece references another painting Brazillian modernist called Tarsila do Amaral. Painted in 1933, her work titled “The Factory Workers,” depicts a sea of stern faces with gray clouds rising from factory smokestacks in the background. Mundano says he’s proud of his mural, of the mini-documentary here, and of his neighbors and country people who have raised attention to a situation that appears corrupt, and well, toxic to life.

Mundano. Brumadinho. Vale do Rio Doce/Paraopeba River, Brazil (photo © André D’elia)

“In January 2019, Brazil has suffered one of the worse environmental crimes of its history,” says Mundano, “when Vale do Rio Doce’s mining dam broke, contaminating the Paraopeba River with a sea of toxic mud, and killing everything that was in the way, including almost 300 people who lost their lives that day,” he tells us. We talk to him about artists using their work to educate and raise awareness to advocate for political or social change, a term often today called ‘artivism’.

Brooklyn Street Art: With reason, there’s a lot of anger against the government and the owners of the mine about this fatal catastrophe. How did you get involved?
Mundano: The environmental and social causes are a big part of my activism or artivism, and I’ve always been a critic of the exploitation of lands for mining purposes. We have over 200 mining dams operating today in Brazil under the risk of breaking. In the last four years we had two of the biggest catastrophes of our country, both in the state of Minas Gerais; Mariana in 2017 and most recently in  2019 in the city of Brumadinho, where a “tsunami” of toxic mud contaminated the Paraopeba river with 12.7 million cubic meters of sludge, dragging everything that was on the way, including almost 300 people who lost their lives.

Mundano. Brumadinho. Vale do Rio Doce/Paraopeba River, Brazil (photo © André D’elia)

As an artivist it is really important for me to be present and see what happened with my own eyes, feel the pain of the victim’s families, follow closely to the inquiry and use the platform and reach that I have as an artist to help these people find justice, and most importantly to put pressure on governments and big companies so that they’re held accountable, preventing this from happening again. 

Brooklyn Street Art: What is the role of an artist should be in his/her community? Should art respond to social needs? 
Mundano: For over 13 years now, I’ve been practicing artivism in several cities across the globe. My actions and the art I create need to have a bigger purpose. For me, art has the power of bringing reflection into society and impact people’s lives, make them think and reflect on their part in society. That’s how I see my art and how I believe I can contribute to bigger causes. I wouldn’t say it’s every artist obligation, but with these huge global challenges naturally we’re gonna need to become more artivists. 

Mundano. Brumadinho. Vale do Rio Doce/Paraopeba River, Brazil (photo © André D’elia)

Brooklyn Street Art: The community felt betrayed and abandoned by those who were supposed to protect them. How did they get the strength to rise up and fight in the middle of their pain?
Mundano: I can’t speak for them but I feel that they don’t have other options than to fight for their rights. Brazilians are quite resistant to adversities by nature. One of the main subjects of my work is the cactus, a plant that, like a big portion of our population, survives with little and still manages to share beauty with flowers to the world. It is hard to see a whole city and it’s people destroyed by such a horrible crime, yet, it was such a strong image to watch mothers, wives, sons, daughters, and friends united, marching a year later, screaming for justice, not giving up on the memories of their loved ones. That gave me strength and inspired me to create my biggest and most important work up until today to honor them. 

Mundano. Brumadinho. Vale do Rio Doce/Paraopeba River, Brazil (photo © André D’elia)

Brooklyn Street Art: Your mural honors and remember those whose lives were lost. Yet there’s some poetic beauty in it with the pigments you used to paint it. You made the paint from the sediment in the river and the earth around it. What were your feelings as you were painting these people faces these materials?
Mundano: The whole process of collecting the mud from the lakebed of Paraopeba River was delicate. I felt the need to talk to residents, local activists, and the families. It was important that I had their consent and that they understood my intentions. The mural was a way of keeping the subject alive, and to honor them in one of the biggest cities in the world, Sao Paulo. I believe that the respect I’ve shown was recognized as I started to receive messages from Brumadinho’s residents about the video, thanking me for the painting, and for me, that’s the biggest recognition of all, it made it all worth it.

Mundano. Brumadinho. Vale do Rio Doce/Paraopeba River, Brazil (photo © @offlimitsbrasil)
Mundano. Brumadinho. Vale do Rio Doce/Paraopeba River, Brazil (photo © André D’elia)

Film by André D’elia

Read more
SNIK, Flip-Flops, Amuse & Merlot – HKWalls 2017, Dispatch 2

SNIK, Flip-Flops, Amuse & Merlot – HKWalls 2017, Dispatch 2

This week BSA and Urban Nation (UN) are in Hong Kong for the 4th edition of HKWalls to capture a very international and local mix of artists in this East/West nexus; a world-class city for art and culture, English and Cantonese, hi-tech and traditional methods – all during the enormous Art Basel week. We’ll bring you the new walls, some previous pieces, some graffiti, stickers, and a whole lot of color from this fast moving and dynamic city on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia.


“Hong Kong is that tough sweaty dude with a gas blowtorch in his hands, soldiering a metal frame on the sidewalk while wearing a muscle shirt and flip flops with a cigarette tucked over his ear and a lit one in his mouth,” to roughly paraphrase the description of this city from an artist at a discussion panel here last night.

As he delivers this gem, you look to your left at the pink-cheeked bearded half of the artist duo SNIK, who shakes his head in agreement. Yes, this does seem like a good description of HK so far.

The first finished wall for HK Walls 2017 is this multi-layered stencil by the duo Snik. Detail. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hong Kong also is the top-boss-lip-gloss power babe waiting for a train at the Prince Edward station with sharply drawn persimmon red lips and cinnamon-bun braided hair bobs that look like Mickey Mouse ears on her head – striking a commanding stance with one hand on her waist and her cool eyes laser-focused on her phone screen.

Also, Hong Kong is the pounding staccato noise of 5 double-decker buses hurtling around a concrete road curve at top speed only 5 meters away from you on the sidewalk, propelling hot bluffs of gritty wind that push you closer to base of factories here here on Wong Chuk Hang Road.

Snik. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Merlot and Amuse, an artist duo who know a lot about letter style, hand style, and style in general are painting a massive 30 meter long tag in a opening between industrial buildings knocking out their text based monikers that borrow and snatch from raw graffiti, wildstyle, pop, and advertising design. Lately, drips.

Merlot is originally from Seattle and its outskirts and has been writing/painting for a decade roughly. For the last two years she and Amuse have been hanging together, sometimes calling their two-person crew “The Alphabet Monsters”, possibly alluding to the cosmic comic influences that may evoke fantasies and stories from graphic novels.

Snik. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

I’ve been testing and doing a bunch of different things because I am a graphic designer and so I like exploring a couple of different approaches,” she explains during a break from painting. “Typically the letters will all stay pretty much the same but with this one we wanted to have more fun and do something different,” which includes painting letters in each others names.

We point out the “S” in amuse, which appears to split wide at the top – little molecules spreading apart and spraying upwards. That’s his “S,” but she says he’s coming over later to give the treatment to her “O”.

BSA: Have you two used the fire extinguisher much before?
Merlot: I haven’t but he has before and I would really like to start using it more. He is into this very drippy kind of zone right now and I think that is what he wants his new look to be this year – he actually did a new fire extinguisher piece recently and he incorporated all of these different elements and it was really amazing.

Snik. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA: Where did you learn how to paint with the extinguisher?
Amuse: My buddy Morgan is a big solid influence of mine and he said to me, “We need to try something different.” Now that is all I want to do. A graffiti writer for more than fifteen years, Amuse says he gets his new tricks sometimes from other guys in other crews he is part of. “Morgan is another guy in the crew – we’re all in the same crew and his approach – Also a very good street artist who I grew up with (in Chicago)- Esteban del Valle – he is amazing and he has this same approach with the dripping and then the nice detailed line work over it,” Amuse explains, “and he told me ‘dude you are killing yourself with all the spray paint – why don’t you incorporate some other kind of paint?’ And he’s right, the bucket paint allows you to paint so much bigger and faster and then you can go back and work on it.”

Snik. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Evidently HK Walls is in full effect right now, with the French trio Anyway, Berlin Duo Snik, Hong Kong’s Wong Ting Fung, Philippine’s Kris Abrigo, and Italy’s Pixel Pancho all on the street, on ladders, on bamboo scaffolding, on cherry pickers.  Just saw Spain’s Spok in an elevator, Zoer showed us his purple/moss/tan color pallet on his phone and tape artist Buff Diss has been lurking from every corner.

And this is a taste of what it is like on the street; The electric/eclectic High/Low influences of Hong Kong are knocking everyone about – sounds of traffic and trucks and construction and laughter and the smell of a cigar smoke and petrol and sweaty basketball players on the public court and aerosol paint and flowering trees all blend together in a heady HK romance sort of way.

Thinking of buying some flip-flops.

Pixel Pancho. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pixel Pancho. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pixel Pancho. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Wong Ting Fung. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Wong Ting Fung. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Anyway. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Anyway. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Anyway. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Anyway. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kris Abrigo. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kris Abrigo. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kris Abrigo. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amuse . Merlot. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amuse . Merlot. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amuse . Merlot. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amuse . Merlot. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amuse . Merlot. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amuse . Merlot. Process shot. HK Walls. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mundano . Martha Cooper. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

We met with Brazilian Street Artist Mundano, who just one first prize at the International Public Art Awards for 2017 for his “Pimp my Carroça” project here in Hong Kong Sunday night. He gave us this hand-made book that he made with photographer Martha Cooper calle “Viva or Catadores”. Congratulations Mundano!

Mundano . Martha Cooper. Hong Kong – March 2017 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 



HKWalls and Hong Kong stories come to you courtesy BSA in Partnership with Urban Nation (UN)

#urbannationberlin #allnationsunderoneroof #unblog @urbannationberlin @bkstreetart

Read more
BSA Images Of The Week: 09.11.16

BSA Images Of The Week: 09.11.16

brooklyn-street-art-elian-jaime-rojo-moscow-09-11-2016-web

BSA-Images-Week-Jan2015

It’s the 15th Anniversary of 9/11 in New York. It will be a quiet day for us.

We hope.

So, here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Bast, Elian, EQC, Hama Woods, MCA, Mundano, Robert Montgomery, SacSix, Sayer, Shok1, TomBob, Zachem, and Зачем.

Our top image: Elian in Moscow for the first edition of Artmossphere 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-plastic-jesus-jaime-rojo-09-11-2016-web

Plastic Jesus does his bit to stop this mean, selfish, racist, dishonest, greedy little man to become king. If he succeeds we’ll all lose – Even those who think they support him. The stench will reach us all. World War II didn’t just happen from one day to the other. It built up. It simmered. It took shape while people were distracted. Yo, this is surreeeus. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-eqc-jaime-rojo-09-11-2016-web

EQC fashions a Loteria Card with an image of you-know-who. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-tom-bob-jaime-rojo-09-11-2016-web

TomBob take on the proverbial See No Evil. Hear No Evil. Speak No Evil. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-robert-montgomery-tor-staale-moen-nuart-2016-stavanger-09-11-2016-web

Robert Montgomery’s installation for NUART 2016 Tou Scene indoor exhibition. Stavanger, Norway. September 2016. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)

brooklyn-street-art-artist-unknown-jaime-rojo-09-11-2016-web-1

Unidentified artist. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-hama-woods-tor-staale-moen-nuart-09-11-2016-web

And now a little of the old soft-shoe shuffle. Hama Woods in conjunction with NUART 2016. Stavanger, Norway. September 2016. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)

brooklyn-street-art-shok1-nika-kramer-lollapalooza-berlin-09-11-2016-web

Shok1 for  Urban Nation Museum for Urban Contemporary Art (UN) at Lollapalooza. Berlin 2016. (photo © Nika Kramer)

brooklyn-street-art-bast-jaime-rojo-09-11-2016-web

BAST (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-artist-unknown-jaime-rojo-09-11-2016-web

A filthy piggy by an unidentified artist. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-zachem-%d0%b7%d0%b0%d1%87%d0%b5%d0%bc-jaime-rojo-09-11-2016-web

Зачем in Moscow. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-mca-jaime-rojo-09-11-2016-web

MCA toying around in Chelsea (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-sacsix-jaime-rojo-09-11-2016-web

A tribute to Gene Wilder as the original Willy Wonka. SACSIX (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-mundano-jaime-rojo-09-11-2016-web-2

Mundano giving a shout out to recycling and recyclers in NYC.(photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-mundano-jaime-rojo-09-11-2016-web-1

Mundano (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-sayer-jaime-rojo-09-11-2016-web

SAYER in Moscow. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-jaime-rojo-09-11-2016-web

Untitled. Manhattan, NYC. September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

Read more
BSA Images Of The Week: 06.26.16

BSA Images Of The Week: 06.26.16

brooklyn-street-art-plotbot-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web-1

BSA-Images-Week-Jan2015

Berliners called it the “großes Ohr”. The Big Ear.

Run by the American NSA and the British in their sector, this “listening station” stands atop a man made mountain of rubble, at the bottom of which is said to lie the unfinished Nazi military-technical college (Wehrtechnische Fakultät) designed by Albert Speer. These structures with round orbs could be seen above the city from many angles rising from deep in the Grunewald Forest and yes, we can confirm that the one complete geodesic orb at the very top has such astounding acoustics even now that the sound of a camera clicking or clearing your throat or stepping on a piece of broken glass is instantly amplified anywhere within it, then re-echoed multiple times.

Our top image: Plotbot at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-plotbot-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web-2

Plotbot at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“In its day,” says security expert and former employee Bill Scannell in a video online, “Teufelsberg (‘Devil’s Mountain’) was one of the most secretive intelligence facilities in the entire world.” Now it is a relic of the NSA behind three rows of barbed wire fences and a sort of freewill painting destination but the hulking grey and ivy clad compoung is a strong reminder of the extensive spy apparatus that the general public continues to get glimpses of in leaks and reports today.

Today this is a graffiti haven and hippie/punk love-in where people go to experiment with cans and rollers and brushes, drink beer, listen to scratchy voiced acoustic versions of Amy Winehouse, and pad around barefoot wearing nothing but a towel. The “guard” at the entrance, also shirtless and barefoot with a somewhat serious gaze requires from you a toll of 7 euro per head to get in, then smiles benignly as continue your trudging up the hill.

brooklyn-street-art-strok-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web

Strok at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

On the sunny hot sticky day that our guide took us, we saw enough good international and local artwork to offset the mediocre, boxes of old electronic doodads laying around on the ground and sticking out of boxes, blackbirds singing in trees, and strips of open asbestos fluttering in the breeze. Art themes ranged from standard graffiti name-making to the apocalyptic, the darkly sarcastic, pop culture parody, and a frequent critique of the surveillance stories we find in the news today.

It’s almost breathtaking with the Berlin views of the valley below – including another man-made mountain nearby that is often used for kite-flying, the Olympic Stadium from 1936, and the The Fernsehturm television tower close to Alexanderplatz in the central neighborhood of Mitte;  this devilish mountain definitely had us entranced. Then we hiked back down the mountain through the deep wood and fields looking for air conditioning and cold beer.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Alaniz, Biko, Crisp, Deuce7, Fanakapan, JBAK, Jule, Icy & Sot, Jule, Low Bros, Moe79, Mundano, Nasca, Never, Plotbot, Self Made Crew, Strøk, Tony Bones, and Wing.

brooklyn-street-art-alaniz-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web-2

Alaniz at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-alaniz-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web-3

Alaniz at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-alaniz-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web-1

Alaniz at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-alaniz-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web-4

Alaniz at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-alaniz-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web-5

Alaniz at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-mundano-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web

Mundano built a three step platform for you to climb and look directly into the eyes of his figure, who pleads with us to “Damn the Dam on the Tapajos River” at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-jaybo-monk-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web

JBAK at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-moe79-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web-1

MOE79 did this stencil of Edward Snowden at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-moe79-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web-3

MOE79 at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-moe79-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web-2

A tongue-in-cheek public service message from MOE79 at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-nasca-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web

Nasca at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-self-made-crew-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web-2

Self Made Crew reinterprets Gustav Klimt’s “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer” eating a Döner kebab at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-self-made-crew-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web-3

Self Made Crew reinterprets Gustav Klimt’s “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer” eating a Döner kebab at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-self-made-crew-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web-1

Self Made Crew paints a big ear at “The Big Ear” (großes Ohr), abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-never-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web

NEVER is always getting the short end of the stick at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-siko-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web

BIKO & MACK at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-icy-sot-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web

Icy & Sot at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-low-bros-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web

Low Bros at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-hulk-hogan-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web

Hulk Hogan victory lap at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-jule-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web

Something awfully Jeremy Fishy about this Jule piece at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-tony-bones-deuce7-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web

Some old stuff Tony Bones and Deuce7 that we’ll guess is 8 years old at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-fanakapan-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web

Fanakapan at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-crisp-wing-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web

Crisp . Wing (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-power-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web

Girl Power (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-jaime-rojo-06-26-2016-web

Untitled. Abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

Read more
Fun Friday 10.08.10

Fun Friday 10.08.10

Fun-Friday

Fun Friday

Erik Burke and Cahil Muraguh

“This Land Is My Land”brooklyn-street-art-MY-LAND-erik-burke-cahil-muraghu-17-frost-gallery1

Experimental show space 17 Frost in Brooklyn tonight hosts the opening of a show that summons Woody Guthrie from the ethers to talk about a time when average working American citizens were asserting their right over resources from multinational companies. An unconventional mashup of NYC graffiti and Hudson River School this show boldly challenges you to make connections where you didn’t know there were any.  Reconciling urban abstract with pastoral landscapes can’t be easy, but when both are your influences you are bound to find the is a germ of something new.

Ride ‘Em Cowboy – Beast & Berlusconi

Furious Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has ordered in inquiry after 16 giant posters showing him riding young models like horses sprung up overnight in Milan.

The faked images – some showing the playboy PM beating the girls’ bottoms with a riding crop – are said to be the work of a local Banksy-style street artist called Beast.

More here

berl

Mundano Modifies Political Posters in Brazil

In another politically engaged Street Art take on graphic messaging in the public sphere, Brazilian Street Artist Mundano is re-styling posters for the  Presidential elections currently taking place in Brazil.

Know Hope in Toronto Tonight

Street Artist Know Hope is currently in Toronto for tonight’s opening of his solo show “There Is Nothing Dear (There Is Too Much Dear)” at the Show and Tell Gallery.  “I’m really excited about this show and the pieces in it. Toronto is also a really cool city,” says the artist.

brooklyn-street-art-know-hope-show -and-tell-gallery

Skewville charms the French

Or at least that’s what Adam says he did.

FAME Wrap Up Video

Italy was once again treated to some of the best worldwide large scale installations of work by Street Artists in one place for the FAME festival. Here is a summary of the scene.

Read more

Video of Mundano – Street Artists Raise Awareness of Social Conditions

Urban Planning is a soaring and shiny term hinting at civic consideration that is sometimes employed in the sales mix by regal real estate developers and audacious architects eager to win approval for new projects in the modern city.  Sustainable Development and Urban Renewal, somewhat less glamorous and less sexy for press conferences, actually take into account the needs of all citizenry and are the province of a thankless few policy wonks taking the long view of a liveable city.

mundano-screenshot

In parts of cities that suffer from decay and lack of investment, adapting urban renewal initiatives can incorporate abandoned housing stock and match it with the needs of a population, strengthening and enriching a city at a foundational level. For a number of years Street Artists in the slums of São Paulo have used their art on the street to draw attention to the plight of people they feel are overlooked and ignored when urban plans are being laid.  mundano-screenshot2
In this brief video, Street Artist Mundano draws our attention to an abandoned hotel in São Paulo that is home to hundreds of families who, although at risk in decaying conditions, consider it a welcome alternative to being homeless.  The video, directed by Rodrigo Piza Levy is a simple statement by artists whose eyes are open, punctuated by beautiful children and all they represent.

Read more

Brazilian Street Artist Mundano has first Solo Show

From SÃO PAULO, here are a few pieces from Mundano’s first solo show, “Cidade Reciclável”(Recycable City)

Mundano said the opening night was perfect, “A lot of people, artists, Japanese food, hot weather, cold beer, caipirinha, 5 big canvasses sold and a lot of projects running at the same time. I wish you and other friends from NYC could have been at the opening last night,  – the same way I want to be in NYC to see personally the exhibition of fresh pieces on the streets.”

Painting on found objects by Mundano.

Painting on found objects by Mundano.

Themes from the show, and often in Mundano’s work, include issues of economic justice, environmental pollution and waste, recycling, bicycling, consumerism, and witty playful  monsters with faces of the ancestors, every watchful and observant.

Mundano.

Mundano.

Mundano likes to use street art as a way of a social revolution. He says his characters are imbued with messages so people can see and think about the problems he addresses.

Some recurring symbols and expressions from Mundano.

Some recurring symbols and expressions from Mundano.

“Cidade Reciclável”(Recycable City)

Grand Opening: March 10th, Wednesday, from 20h to 23h
The show runs till April 10th. The music, food, and entertainment venue is open Wednesday to Saturday
Asia 70
Domingos Andrades st. (corner with Kansas st.)
Brooklin
Call 11 5102 2215
About the Artist:
Mundano’s work can be seen in the favelas, big avenues, as well as art galleries and on his Flickr page: www.flickr.com/artetude
Read more

Guest Artist Mundano – The Differences between Brooklyn and Brooklin

Banner-Hello-Brooklyn

Last week we told you about the work of Mundano, a Brazilian street artist who recently was in a show in Brooklyn.

We were so enamored with the idea of another BKLYN, as cheesy as that may sound to you, that we wanted to know more about our cousin on the Tropic of Capricorn.  So we started asking Mundano what it’s like there, how’s it similar, how’s it different, and what about the street art there.

This week Mundano comes back to talk to us about his neighborhood in the largest city in Brazil, São Paulo.  Before he get’s going lemme tell you that according to my very professional online research — NYC sold São Paulo some old trolley cars in the 1930’s for the city’s rail system.  And guess what name was emblazoned across the front of the front car?  Brooklyn.  So people started calling the neighborhood at the end of the trolley line by that name! I don’t know how accurate this is, but it sounds good.

And now, onto our guest to talk about similarities and differences between the two BK’s. 

Sit down and get ready for some skooling! Oh, you already are sitting down.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-WELCOME-Mundano_3_oct09

Below is Mundano’s article about Brooklin & Brooklyn;

The Brazilian Brooklin was named after the American Brooklyn but ours is spelled with an “i”.  The neighborhood here is mostly residential, but in the last 10 years the area has grown really fast, and now it’s also got a big financial center with high modern office buildings.

A view of the Brooklin favela in the foreground in the shadow of the skyscrapers next door. (image Mundano)
A view of the Brooklin favela in the foreground in the shadow of the skyscrapers next door. (image Mundano)

One signal of this fast growth is that the goverment is kicking our favela (slum) that was here before to another place.  Basically they are trying to “clean up” the area – as if moving the poorest people to a different area was a real solution to the problem.

(image Mundano)
(image Mundano)

The similarities between both of the BKs are that they both have a river and a great bridge that goes across it and both have a great deal of street art.

The bridge called Ponte Octavio Frias de Oliveira in Sao Paulo

The bridge called Ponte Octavio Frias de Oliveira in Sao Paulo

Read more about “Ponte Octavio Frias de Oliveira

The differences of the street art scene here and there is that here we have the “pixaçao” which is really aggressive and fast writing, so the population started to see graffiti as a solution for that.  Pixaçao
Creative Commons License photo credit: Brocco Lee

Here is a picture with a style of graffiti called Pixação

Because of that you can get authorized walls to paint on.  Also, here we use much more housepaint than spray, because of the expensive price of a spray can.

Other thing is that here we have different references of culture so in a neighborhood like Brooklin you can see a great variety of grafitti styles, but here the “street law” is don’t paint over another graffiti or pixação.

This is an example of conversations on the street between graff writers.
This is an example of conversations on the street between graff writers in Brooklyn (image Mundano)

On the other hand, the NY Brooklyn has a lot of things that we don’t see here, like lots of tags and bombs on cars, the interaction between the artists on the streets.

Skewville makes a commentary on a piece by Elbow Toe

Skewville makes a commentary on a piece by Elbow Toe (photo Jaime Rojo)

Also there are a lot of paste-ups and 3-D installations in Brooklyn. That is rare here.

And here Mundano speaks about his video:

This is my first timelapse video and the idea started in a bar table with some friends one day before the action. I really like how it came out because its possible to see the entire process and also the people walking there, the cars and all.

I painted the lips with a big brush and housepaint and all the rest was painted with spray paint. The gate is near by the end of the Av. Paulista, the most well known avenue of São Paulo. I´m really happy that my creature is still there watching the people and the problems of the city, and also turning the streets more colorful!
>>>>    >>>>>   > > >>> >

Thank you to Mundano for taking the time and making the effort to educate his Brooklyn peeps about his neighborhood called Brooklin. A special thank you to his girlfriend Camila, who helped with the text translation, and who also appears in the video.

Mundano’s Flickr Page is Here

Read more
Brooklin & Brooklyn: São Paulo and MUNDANO

Brooklin & Brooklyn: São Paulo and MUNDANO

Banner-Hello-Brooklyn

Brooklyn isn’t just a borough of 2.2 million people in New York City, it is also a neighborhood in São Paulo, Brazil.

Pixel show 2007

Mundano by Stella Dauer

Creative Commons License photo credit: Stella Dauer

And guess what?  That’s right homie-lera, they have street art.

But that should not be a huge revelation to you by now.

Like my barber Pedro Fantilipaz says, “Street Art eees all ovah tha wooorrrrrl!”

Mundano, a street artist from the other BK, makes monster-type faces, and elongated forms using fat caps and thin ones, a smooth hand, and a playful eye. They are extreeeeeme closeups with flaring nostrils, big frowny lips, and ever-searching eyes. Sometimes 4 eyes, sometimes more.

"Líquen Vermelho" / "Red lichen" by Mundano at Factory Fresh (photo Steven P. Harrington)

“Líquen Vermelho” / “Red lichen” by Mundano at Factory Fresh (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Mundano was here in July doing a show with two other Brazilians, Loro Vez and Apollo Torez, where they installed a show at Factory Fresh Gallery, called “Lichen”.  Add these three dudes to the two Os Gemeos, and this summer it was like the Brasil World Cup of aerossolistas right here in Nova Lorque!

You Are a Slave of Consumption (Mundano)

“You Are a Slave of Consumption” – a bit of wisdom for the birds.(Mundano) (photo by Mike Ion)

Back home he makes many creatures everywhere, and he writes slogans and messages that harshly question the policies of the government regarding social policy. It was no surprise to see him muster enough English to make an observation about our materialistic society on one of his pieces here.

Mundano’s recreation of a cart commonly used by recyclers on foot in Brooklin. (photo courtesy Factory Fresh)

Right in the middle of the gallery in Bushwick, Mundano had installed a cart that was a facsimile of a cart (or “carroceiro”) that is commonly used in his town for people to gather discarded items and materials for recycling, an appreciable business there. While they were trolling our streets in a van looking for stuff to stock their gallery carroceiro, Mundano and his buddies were pretty shocked to find that here people throw out perfectly good stuff!

(Mundano)

Keep your eyes open – This one is on lockdown in Brooklyn (Mundano)

Yeah, I know that for sure, because that was my first apartment; one man’s broken Barcalounger is another man’s throne. Most college students and newly arrived immigrants in New York can easily furnish their entire apartments from discarded furniture and other stuff that people drag to the curb.  Even so, Mundano’s wild-eyed surprise and shock at how wasteful we are was an eye-opener for me too.

(Mundano)

(Mundano) (photo Mike Ion)

Now Mundano’s back in Brooklin and making new stuff there, where people have a different approach to his art on the street. He had a great time here and got to put up some entertaining pieces while staying in New York and he’s looking forward to his next visit, “I really liked New York, and I will be back for sure.”

Is Smoking Relaxing? (Mundano)

Is Smoking Relaxing? Mundano made a Musico puffing on a cigarro next to this anti-smoking ad in Brooklyn. (Mundano) (photo Mike Ion)

Cactus Corner (Mundano)

Cactus Corner (Mundano) (photo Mike Ion)

Quebre a rotina mas nao se quebre
Creative Commons License photo credit: Marco Gomes

Mundano’s Flickr page is HERE

Mike Ion images courtesy Mundano

Read more
Images of Week 07.12.09

Images of Week 07.12.09

Our weekly interview with the streets

El Sol
The desire to regenerate Viking manhood through heroic struggle meets Dior. (El Sol 25) (photo Jaime Rojo)

El Sol
Interstitial musings on cranial sacral therapy (El Sol 25) (photo Jaime Rojo)

El Sol
Coming to terms with his own past as a weak and sickly boy. (El Sol 25) (photo Jaime Rojo)

I'm watching you
A futuristic and intense psycho drama playing out with xray vision enabling the clear view of Janet’s nether region. (photo Jaime Rojo)

Piggy Bank Tian
The national savings rate must increase, even if a few coins at a time. (Tian) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Trovadour
The noble hippie, bare-chested and defiant, sucks in his gut and clutches his ham and swiss hero. (Trovadour) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Apolo Torres MUNDANO Loro Verz

Apolo Torres, Mundano, & Loro Verz at Factory Fresh (photo Jaime Rojo)

Bast
I hate to seem aggressive but I really need you to use your bathroom. Please give me the key. (Bast) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Cepia Beauty
Sepia Beauty (photo Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25
And which one would we call illegal? (El Sol 25) (photo Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25
With manly legs pumping furiously, Ned, Accounting Super Hero, rushes to deposit the clients’ jewelry before the bank closes. (El Sol 25) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Gaia
Un aplauso por el Conejo! (Gaia) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Know Hope

Time to come out of the bushes! (Know Hope) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Know Hope

Know Hope behind the grating (photo Jaime Rojo)

Know Hope
Last night I really blew it.  Two packs of smokes, a tin of tuna, some lemonade soda, and a tub of watermelon.  I really gotta stop before I lose an arm or something. (Know Hope) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Lady Pink
Natural beauty in the garden of Eldridge (Lady Pink) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Os Gemeos (detail. More to come!)
I’m thinking of a small town I visited last night in a dream (Os Gemeos) (detail) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Os Gemeos (detail. More to come!)Yes, we’ll go in a minute, I’m just checking my messages (Os Gemeos) (detail) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Space Invader
And when he leans over the railing, I’ll pounce! (Space Invader) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Read more

LORO VERZ, APOLO TORRES & MUNDANO at Factory Fresh

Lichen
Straight from São Paulo Factory Fresh presents

LORO VERZ, APOLO TORRES & MUNDANO

Opening Reception Friday, July 10th 7-10pm

On July 10th, São Paulo will invade Factory Fresh, as LORO VERZ, MUNDANO and APOLO TORRES arrive with a varied collection of their freshest individual and collective works. During their setup for the gallery they will paint the walls of the Factory Fresh courtyard with their large scale mural work.

The three artists come from different backgrounds and aspects
of the life however all located in São Paulo, Brazil, conveying their interpretations to a strong organism of many environments, the Lichen. The Lichen is the result of the symbiotic association of fungus with a photosynthetic partner, such as algae or cyanobacterium, and they live as a single culture. Although it’s severely affected by pollution, it’s very resistant to the absence of water and nutrients, being able to survive even in deserts and places taken by a huge cemented, grey area, like São Paulo and other conurbations around the globe.

Pixel show 2007
Creative Commons License photo credit: Stella Dauer

For a long time describing his paintings as an urban parasite, MUNDANO has paintings all over the city, even in the carts of many “Carroceiros”, people that work collecting cardboards, aluminum and other material from the trash to sell to recycling companies. The painted carts run through the city traffic disseminating his messages against the marginalization of this honest and necessary work. On the city’s walls, his messages directly question the corruption of the government, social issues, the pallor and the city traffic. In a way, his characters filled up with eyes are the voice of a silent people.

LORO VERZ decodes the hectic and busy city life style and transforms it into critical, satirical, subversive images. His work is a direct response to the urban and almost schizophrenic state of mind of people living in massive cities as Sao Paulo, where simultaneity and synchronicity are always present. The artist explores different painting surfaces and mediums from oil to spray cans. His style is a fusion of influences that goes from Hyeronimous Bosch to graffiti, from Robert Crumb to Michelangelo. Besides being an artist, Loro is also an illustrator and cartoonist for the Sao Paulo edition of the Metro Newspaper. For this present show, the Lichen’s shapes and colors are the structure for his work.

APOLO TORRES work is the most figurative one, but there is a strong relationship between the figure and the surface it’s painted on. There is a lot of work on the canvas surface, trying to capture the colors and textures found on the city’s walls, and also other living interventions such as Lichen, moss, and human painting. Working on the depth and perspective, but at the same time leaving the elements scattered in the environment, Apolo have been trying to find a way to indicate that all the roots, the ground on which
are built our morals and customs, values, beliefs, and even the possession of the space we share with other living beings can change or disappear at any time. Due to the constant transformation of things, the art of Apolo Torres is a visual record of what he has witnessed and felt.

APOLO TORRES, LORO.VERZ and MUNDANO have been highlighted together in the recent years, and their individual work is well known in São Paulo and was exhibited at cities like London, Milan, Paris and Tel-Aviv. This is their first time in New York, this show promises to be unique and focused on their hometown roots.

Show runs till July 26th, 2009

Read more