All posts tagged: Brooklin

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

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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

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