Highraff

Rafael Calazans (Highraff), creates imagery of cities and colorful landscapes, with vibrant results. In his latest body of works, Highraff develops his drawings by adding a three-dimensional component. Through the use of MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) material, he turns murals imagery into elaborate sceneries and sculptures. His process creates depth and design of monumental proportions.

- Jonathan LeVine Art Gallery

Speto

Paulo Cesar Silva (Speto), is one of Brazil’s most popular street artists. He attributes his visual style to influences from hip-hop, local pop culture, and eclectic world styles. Speto’s original graffiti, blends lines of traditional northeastern Brazilian wood carving styles, with sophisticated textures and figurative imagery. Working in a variety of mediums such as, murals, illustrations, and graphics, Speto fuses modern techniques with Brazilian cultural heritage, to create a distinctive form of street art.

- Jonathan LeVine Art Gallery

Bronx Mural Project

The Bronx Mural Project, is a collaboration of eight Brazilian artists (Fefe, Titi Freak, Kboco, Highraff, Speto, Onesto, Zezao, and Boleta), the Jonathan LeVine Gallery, and the Choque Cultural Gallery.

As a cross-cultural development project, the artists painted five walls at the Holcome L. Rucker School, in the Bronx New York. The artists were visiting the Jonathan LeVine gallery for their debut exhibit, Ruas de Sao Paulo: A survey of Brazilian Street Art, which ran from February 17 to March 17, 2007.

All the students that were involved in the Mural Project, assisted in the painting of the murals, leaned about Brazilian art, culture, and wrote about their experiences. Students will continue the project, painting murals at another school in a different location.
The students that were selected for the project showed strong interest in graffiti and the arts. It was developed as a way for them to learn, and be recognized for contributing to their community.

Onesto

Alex Hornets (Onesto), has a striking history in the Brazilian graffiti scene. He has 72 different signatures, one for each of his working concepts, which he identifies as, “72 d.i.e.s.e.l.” The oldest signature, Onesto, is recognized primarily for portraits of fantastic beings. Alex Hornest blends these different visual codes and intertwines their styles to create stunning imagery.

- Jonathan LeVine Art Gallery

Titi Freak

Hamilton Yokota (Titi Freak), draws inspirations from his Japanese heritage. His style fuses eastern and western cultures, where fashion, pop imagery, illustrations, yo-yo, graffiti, and comic strips intertwine. He maintains a curios spirit, though an exploration of painting surfaces and the creation of elaborate and densely patterned canvases.

- Jonathan LeVine Art Gallery

Fefe

Graduating with an area of concentration in the fine arts, Fefe Talavera (Fefe), found that street art was the fuel that she was looking for to harness and evolve her ideas. Her most well known work is made from gluing cutout letters from popular concert posters found on almost every wall in Sao Paulo. Fefe also presents an extensive vocabulary in her most recent paintings drawings, and carvings. She is inspired by Mayan and Aztec mythologies, as well as Mexican heritage.

- Jonathan LeVine Art Gallery

Boleta

Daniel Medeiros (Boleta), represents the psychedelic side of Brazilian graffiti. Influenced primarily by tattoo themes, the construction of his drawings results in an original style; rich with line work, colors, figures, and additional unique forms.

- Jonathan LeVine Art Gallery

The Writing On The Wall (Mission Statement)

At night, they move through the dark streets in stealth, toting: mini-rollers, paint markers, backpacks filled with aerosol cans, and other essential tools. They scale fences, walls, friend’s shoulders, and even hang off the sides of buildings at towering heights, all in an attempt to gain instant fame. Appearing on street corners, billboards, subway trains, buildings, and any place where an artist feels the need to “get up,” in order to communicate with others, and make their presence known. This is graffiti. It’s freedom. It is a freedom for one to say and create whatever they feel without restriction.
From the boroughs of New York to the government buildings of Sao Paulo, it has evolved into a worldwide movement. Whether it’s tags, burners, end-to-ends, bombs, throw ups, pieces, characters, or stencils; each culture takes the traditional base and adapts it to their way of life, gaining inspiration from: traditional folklore, nature, politics, society, and anything that the mind can fabricate.

To authorities and those that do not understand the shapes, messages, or abstract interlocking of letters, it’s considered a public nuisance that’s destroying cities. They may buff or paint over the artistic creations, but when the writing is on the wall, it always comes back.

Over the years graffiti has moved up from the underground and into the mainstream. The once bastard step-child of the art world has become the patriarch of the family; taking the head of the table and influencing millions. It’s branched out from the streets and being idolized in movies, magazines, clothing lines, album covers,modern art and other mediums of pop culture; evolving further than ever envisioned.

Vitche

Nunca

Alexandre Orion