São Paulo

Kobra Pays Honor to Architect Niemeyer in São Paulo

Brazilian Street Artist Eduardo Kobra and four other painters have been working six hours a day since January 14th to complete a 52 meter high mural that honors architect Oscar Niemeyer who passed away in December just days before his 105th birthday. Covering the entire side of a skyscraper on Paulista Avenue in São Paulo’s financial district, the artwork is inspired by Niemeyer’s architecture, his love of concrete and Le Corbusier.

If you look closely among the colorful forms that overlay the photo-realistic portrait, you’ll find that some of them are based on Niemeyer’s works. In this case, art on the street could not find a more fitting tributary than a modern architect who espoused populist sentiments that his field should serve everyone, not just the privileged few.

Eduardo Kobra. Installation in progress. São Paulo, Brazil. (photo © Alan Teixeira)

“Oscar Niemeyer was an important figure to us,” explains Kobra during a break from painting, as he talks about the Rio born citizen of the world and Brazils modernist icon, “The decision to paint this here reminds us of the importance of the several works he did in the city. Given their relevance even today, I think he deserved this great space on Paulista Avenue.”

The logistics and costs of this labor of love have been as great at the mural is high. Beginning in the early autumn, the process included getting permission from the building and city hall, placing the scaffolds, agreeing on and setting the design, and buying the paint. “In the end, the paperwork was the most difficult part and I wanted to get it all resolved so I could paint the mural,” explains the artist.

“Furthermore it was a very expensive project. The staff of the building gave us the paint, the André Art Gallery helped us with the equipment, there was a hotel near the building that hosted us and we also got a restaurant to help us with food. This project relied upon genuine cultural support and it could only happen  because of it,” says Kobra. “For this project we didn’t receive a penny of compensation – we are doing it for the pleasure of doing a job here at Paulista, the most important avenue in São Paulo.”


Eduardo Kobra. Detail. São Paulo, Brazil. (photo © Alan Teixeira)


Eduardo Kobra. Detail. São Paulo, Brazil. (photo © Alan Teixeira)

Eduardo Kobra. Detail. São Paulo, Brazil. (photo © Alan Teixeira)

Eduardo Kobra. Detail. São Paulo, Brazil. (photo © Alan Teixeira)

 

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“Luz Nas Vielas”, Transforming a Neighborhood with Art

“Luz Nas Vielas”,  Vila Brasilândia, São Paulo, Brasil;  A short film.

Intervention!  That’s the more academic word choice that people like to used euphemistically to describe putting up a piece of street art sometimes  – and one that belies a more holistic perception of Street Art’s overall potential to impact a community. So when Spanish Street Art collective Boa Mistura began talking about their planned “participative Urban Art interventions” in São Paulo this year, the implication was to somehow positively change conditions in the dense favelas using art and the creative spirit.

Boa Mistura “Luz Nas Vielas” Vila Brasilândia, São Paulo, Brasil. 2012 (still from video © Boa Mistura)

Describing art as “a tool for change and inspiration”, the Luz Nas Vielas project took place at the beginning of the year in the neighborhood of Vila Brasilândia, a community struggling economically. Hosted by the Gonçalves family, artists and organizers took time to get to know the neighborhood, study and analyze the narrow and winding streets that comprise a sort of urban net, and took part in a dialogue with residents.

Boa Mistura “Luz Nas Vielas” Vila Brasilândia, São Paulo, Brasil. 2012 (still from video © Boa Mistura)

With the active participation of neighbors, the Boa Mistura collective focused on some concepts that were identified as important to the area and used them as guidance. The words they collectively chose were Beleza, Firmeza, Amor, Doçura, and Orgulho (roughly translated as beauty, strength, love, kindness, and pride).  With these universal values in mind, artists made their interventions with the intention of using art as a tool for change and intervention.

See the video for a full account and judge for yourself how successful they were.

Boa Mistura “Luz Nas Vielas” Vila Brasilândia, São Paulo, Brasil. 2012 (still from video © Boa Mistura)

Boa Mistura “Luz Nas Vielas” Vila Brasilândia, São Paulo, Brasil. 2012 (still from video © Boa Mistura)

Boa Mistura “Luz Nas Vielas” Vila Brasilândia, São Paulo, Brasil. 2012 (still from video © Boa Mistura)

Boa Mistura “Luz Nas Vielas” Vila Brasilândia, São Paulo, Brasil. 2012 (still from video © Boa Mistura)

 

Visit Boa Mistura site to learn more about the work they do. Click here.

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Italian Street Artist Göla and His Fantastical Hybrids in Brazil

Italian Street Artist Göla is in Curitiba, Brazil working with Brazillian Paulo Auma as part of a public art / street art exhibition called “Hibrido”, or Hybrid. Engaging the children, adults, and walls with fantastic and glaring color drenched combinations of genetically modified animals, insects, food, and technological wonders is meant to be more than entertaining eye candy – while it clearly succeeds in doing that. As the French Street Artist Ludo does with his animal/techno fantasy combinations, this four month exhibit is an explicit call for us to think about the goals and results of our experimentation with the natural world, our ethics, and our blind obeyance to scientific endeavors for their own sake.

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Göla. Curitiba, Brazil (photo © Fernando Cesar)

“I try to ask about the relationship between man and all other living beings,”says Göla about the influences in his work.  With his painting and subject matter a meditation on the laws of nature, he warns of the dangers of messing with it. Fascinated with the hybrids that are coming about, his depictions profess affinity for the natural world.

As he name checks futurist artists like Eduardo Kac and Alexis Rockman , Göla explains “My work is influenced by an ever-present closeness with the animal sphere,” as your thoughts wander to discussions of trans-human futurism, fluorescent fish, all terrain dog-robots delivering bombs, and flying nano bugs watching you through the window while you drool over a Lady Gaga video.

brooklyn-street-art-gola-fernando-cesar-brazil-2011-1-webGöla. Curitiba, Brazil (photo © Fernando Cesar)

Heady stuff for Street Art you say? Not really when you consider that today’s generation of Street Artists is coming from a huge variety of backgrounds with a flood of abilities, carrying with it bags of tricks only imagined in the aerosol infused reveries of yesterdecade. Göla, for all of this heavy thinking, is a jubilant ombudsman of a hopeful future, bringing an extremely playful and childlike wonder to his work, making it all so much more engaging.

While in Brazil, Göla took time to explore the country and to get up in various towns big and small. Here is the product of his work and collaborations with some local artists.

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Göla. Curitiba, Brazil (photo © Fernando Cesar)

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Göla. Curitiba, Brazil (photo © Fernando Cesar)

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Göla, Paulo Auma “Hibrido” Curitiba, Brazil (photo © Fernando Cesar)

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Göla, Paulo Auma “Hibrido” Curitiba, Brazil (photo © Fernando Cesar)

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Göla, Paulo Auma “Hibrido” Curitiba, Brazil (photo © Fernando Cesar)

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Göla. “Hibrido” Curitiba, Brazil (photo © Fernando Cesar)

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Göla, Sao Paulo, Brazil (photo © Göla)

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Göla, Niguem Dorme  Sao Paulo, Brazil (photo © Göla)

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Göla, Milo, Tim Tchais, Dedo Verde.  Sao Paulo, Brazil (photo © Göla)

To experience Göla’s world click on his site:

http://www.golanimal.com/

“Hibrido” is on view from March 20-June 19, 2011.

To learn more about “Hibrido” click below:

http://www.hibridoart.net/

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Göla in Sao Paulo : Riotous Color and a Free Imagination

Italian Street Artist Göla is in Sao Paulo for his show with Brazilian Paulo Auma called “Hibrido”, or Hybrid. A wild man who channels his emotions into walls and sculptures composed of a kaleidoscope of intense colors and shapes, Göla studies the human condition, the natural world, genetic modification, biodiversity and the spiritual universe, free associating his way from there with saturated color, biomorphic shapes, and vibrating pattern. Together with Auma, he has begun a series of installations outside the gallery for a show that blends blend anger with joy, natural with man made, in a integrated collection of public works.

Here is a sample of some of his new work. More to come.

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Göla in Sau Paulo (image © Göla)

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Göla poses inside his piece. (image ©Fernando Cesar)

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With work that easily lends itself to the imagination of childhood, here is a new colorful public installation by Göla in a park. (image ©Fernando Cesar)

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Göla collaborated with Ninguem Dorme for this street collaboration in Sau Paulo (image © Göla)

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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.

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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.

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Apolo Torres – “Tempestade” in Sao Paulo

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Two years after his first exhibit, Brazilian Street Artist Apolo Torres returns to Verbo gallery in Sao Paulo for a show Thursday called TEMPESTADE (or Storm), with a collection of paintings from his most recent studio work, as well as drawings and prints on paper.

Apolo Torres "Coexistencia"  (detail)

Apolo Torres “Coexistencia” (detail)

At a good moment in his career, Apolo participated in important group exhibitions and partnerships over the last couple of years, leading him recently to a gig making the art for songwriter Rodrigo Ramos’ debut record.
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The contemporary works for this show show sensitive approach to the life in big cities; in a questioning, poetic way that focus on environmental and political problems such as the recent floods in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
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Behind the aesthetics is a criticism of poor urban planning and overpopulation along with a tribute to the people who get on with their lives and their routine in spite of these problems.
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images in studio © Grasielle Barbaresco

Apolo Torres "Tempestade"

Apolo Torres "Tempestade"

See more of Apolo’s Work HERE.

Galeria Verbo – Av. Ibirapuera, 2823, Moema, São Paulo – SP

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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
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Guest Artist Mundano – The Differences between Brooklyn and Brooklin

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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.

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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!
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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

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