- Jonathan LeVine Art Gallery
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
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
- 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
- Jonathan LeVine Art Gallery
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
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
- 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
- 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.
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.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Zezao
Zezao, is one of the leaders of Brazilian abstract graffiti. His trademark arabesques have roots in the Brazilian style of tagging letters called, pichacao. His most striking works are creations in the Sao Paulo sewer system and subterranean water ducts.
- Jonathan LeVine Art Gallery
- Jonathan LeVine Art Gallery
Kboco
Marcio Medonha (Kboco), was born and raised in Goiania, one of the innermost cities of Brazil. His drawing style, which is strongly influenced by his origins, is more ornate and delicate than those found in the city of Sao Paulo. His style has developed an original calligraphy, mixing arabesques and pichacao. His style has a strong decorative appeal; resulting in elaborate paintings, full of layers, details and refined colors.
- Jonathan LeVine Art Gallery
Words From the Streets (Feature)
The Evolution of the Graffiti and Urban Arts Movement in Brazil
Long before the graffiti artists of New York began tagging walls, painting pieces end-to-end, bombing subway trains in "Wildstlye (interlocking letters),” and anything else in sight; Brazil had been using the artful expression as a way of communicating political messages and other ideas to the masses. Originating in Sao Paulo, graffiti art in Brazil has spanned the country, becoming as deeply rooted in the culture as its indigenous ancestors.
In his 1928, Manifesto Antropofago, the Brazilian poet, Oswald de Andrade termed country’s characteristic of adaptation as, “antropofagia (cannibalism).” Referring to the eating or ingesting of one culture and melding it with another, the same ideologies presently flow through the veins of the Brazilian people; uniting it socially, economically, and philosophically.
Although New York’s traditional hip-hop inspired styles of graffiti have been influential to Brazil, its artists have taken an organic approach making a genre all of their own incorporating: indigenous and folkloric themes, urban life, political affairs, and everyday occurrences that inspire the artist.
Tristan Manco is one of several contributing authors of the book, Graffiti Brasil. The collage of photos and short stories, documents the formation and evolution of the graffiti culture of Brazil.
“Graffiti may not be as fashionable as it has been in the last few years, but I think the energy in Brazilian graffiti is unstoppable and inspiring,” said Manco.
Due to Brazil’s isolation from the rest of the world, artists have had to use improvisation and imagination, in order to adapt and create unique styles, techniques, and mentality, in order to progress in the ever changing art.
“The rough and the smooth mixed together. The frenetic cult of pichacao tagging, mixed in with free-flowing, free-thinking, unaffected artistic creation, and the “DIY (Do It Yourslef) attitude,” painting with whatever is available,” explained Manco.
Role -The Sunday Roll Sessions:
Sunday, consider the day of rest to many, but not for the graffiti artists of Brazil. Referred to as “Role,” the Sunday roll is a day where artists can work with little restriction. With few pedestrians and police on the streets; walls, buildings, train yards, and anything else with a surface becomes fair game
“It depends very much on the city and the location,” explained Manco.
Sunday is traditionally the day to paint pieces in Brazil; this is done during the day. It still isn't legal, but artists have their strategies for this. Generally the authorities have more important things to do, but if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, you could become the recipient of beatings, humiliation, some time in custody and worse. On the other hand if a project is sanctioned then the authorities will help deliver paint, scaffolding, drinks for the painters, and even a police cordon!”
From the aggressive pichacao writings, and modern graffiti text, to vibrant and colorful murals that span all edges of buildings and walls, the artists bring life to the ever morphing metropolises.
Pichacao, The Unknown Phenomena:
First appearing in on walls in Sao Paulo as rebellious political messages, Pichacao, pronounced “pee-sha-sow” (“Piche,” means tar in Portuguese), is considered the traditional Brazilian style of street writing.
“Brazil's graffiti culture during the 70’s and 80’s was generally overlooked by the worldwide scene, but during that time there were many developments and some great artists, as culture and politics developed around it,” explained Manco
Since the cost of spray paint (Montana which is a heavy favorite) and other tools, such as flow pens and ink or paint markers, are over priced, pichacao is primarily done with small 2-3” foam rollers and latex or house paint carried in plastic soda bottles for easy mobility and access.
Many Pichadores, as the artists are known, thin down their paint with water and other forms of liquid, in order to make it last longer. Unlike the graffiti styles seen in North America, Europe and through out the world, Pichacao, is solely Brazilian in creation. Simplistic, yet aggressive, it is appears almost mathematic in construction, with letters being congruent in width, and equally parallel in length and height.
Predominantly painted on “nice” and expensive buildings, the bold black lettering posed political statements, poems and other ideas, against an unbalanced economy, beginning in Brazil during the late 1970’s to 80’s Brazil.
Today it can be found in most metropolitan areas throughout the country, with variations in style based on the region and location. For example, in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, pichacao is written with spray paint, rather than latex or house paint. The tags are small and looping in nature. In Salvador, the tags are larger in scale and take up more space than in neighboring states.
Pichadores are like urban acrobats that scour the cities at night; they go to great lengths, from making human ladders, to leaning off of the edge of a building several stories up, in effort to get their messages or crew or individual names read. Crews can consist of any where from 20 to 50 artists. For height, human ladders are formed where, the smallest member paints. Pichadores usually begin painting in their pre-teens, around the age 10 or 11. They paint till the late teens or mid-twenties.
Similar to the United States, when caught for misdemeanor offence as a minor, the most that the police can do is call the artist’s mother, but as an adult, getting caught can have a drastic effect on one’s future. But there is much glory in the risks taken, and some artists continue to paint well into the later years.
One of the better known pichacao artists is Tchentcho. Known for his Dare Devil styled fearlessness, he has painted on some of the tallest buildings in Sao Paulo. With the assistance of press coverage, Tchentcho became a graffiti legend. Other artists began to mimic his feats, attempting to reach higher locals.
“During the 80’s, Sao Paulo was proclaimed a graffiti capital; a title that it still deserves,” said Manco.
Pichadores in Sao Paulo have been inspired stylistically by heavy metal album covers from bands like Motor Head, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and even Brazilian thrash-metal band, Sepultua.
An evolved version of this is, Graphixo. A combination of traditional pichacao and the bubble and tight outlines of American hip-hop graffiti calligraphy, the two styles fuse together, spawning angularly exaggerated and brightly colored pieces.
Bombs, Stencils, and Terrorists:
What sets Brazil’s urban art scene a part form anywhere else in the world is that it heavily incorporates the country’s history. And as the saying goes, “History repeats itself,” modern day lettering and pictures incorporate elements of pichacao, American hip-hop, animated characters, graphixos, futuristically abstract text; moving back to folkloric, and indigenous inspirations.
There is also a strong sense of brother and sisterhood. In respect of their pichacao predecessors, graffiti painters do not “buff” or write over the work. They either paint above or around it, resulting in an extended outreach of unification.
“By the mid 90’s, the scene began to mature, as some amazingly innovative work began coming from Brazil's relative isolation,” said Manco. “This isolation was key to creating unique work from artists, such as Vitche, Herbert and Os Gemeos.”
Over the years, graffiti has Artists such as Herbert Bagilone, Onesto, Tinho, Speto, Nunca, Nina, Vitche, Titifreak, Boleta, Highraff, the Os Gemeos (means “twins” in Portuguese) and many others, have moved Brazilian graffiti from the streets and incorporated into stickers, wood carvings, graphic designs, advertising, and alternative mediums of art and pop culture.
It is important to note that although each graffiti artist has an individual and trademark identifying style, whether working solo or in groups, with an equal goal and passion in mind, collaborations on works is frequent.
Pieces referred to as “sopa de letrinhas” or “Alphabet soup,” is created by multiple artists painting on several closely spaced buildings, the end result is a chain of signatures, characters, and graphics that create a large visual masterpiece.
Illegal versus Legal:
There has been an ongoing controversy in the graffiti culture about gallery and other legal works being of value, compared to those illegally painted on the streets. With the availability of space in Brazil artists do not focus on this aspect of the scene. In addition, with the high costs of materials, it is not surprising that many artists seek government grants to create their works.
“The Brazilian graffiti scene is a strong force in many ways - there are many gigantic murals made in collaboration with the government and many community projects that benefit the community and the artists,” said Manco. “Graffiti artists are a persuasive force in this regard. With illegal work, this is much a political statement by taking space for themselves and creating something that either has a message or an artistic purpose.”
Brazil’s own, Choque Cultural Gallery, based in Sao Paulo, is a contemporary art gallery that exhibits pop and “outsider” art. Since its first exhibition in 2004, the Choque Cultural has become a safe harbor for artists in their ideals and contemporary styles. With an ever changing environment, it is hard for an artist not to become intoxicated by its explosive energy.
In conjunction with the Jonathan LeVine Art Gallery in New York, which exhibits works in comic book, graffiti, illustration, and pop culture influence, it expands past the mockingly labeled, “low brow” street surrealism and imagery. In stead, it bring new perceptions of art to the eyes of the contemporary art lover, championing the genre and celebrating artists ideals and perceptions of society and culture past and present.
In early March of 2007, the two galleries teamed up with seven artists (Boleta, Fefe, Highraff, Kboco, Onesto, Speto, Titi Freak, and Zezao), bringing them to Holcome L. Rucker School, in the Bronx, New York, to create, The Bronx Mural Project. While painting several murals on the schools’ exterior walls, its purpose was to educate the students involved on Brazilian art and culture.
The mass creation of murals was followed up by, Ruas de Sao Paulo, a survey of Brazil’s 40 year-old street art scene, featured at the LeVine Gallery, which showcased the artists’ works to the public.
In the past graffiti may have been perceived as North American in creation, Brazil has taken it to another level never before imagined. From it’s beginnings in pichacao, to its evolution into the abstract and other forms of modern media, with the infusing of adaptation, isolation, creativity in technique and style, the Brazilian graffiti and urban arts scene has left its humble borders to explore and impact the world round.
* Credits to Caleb Neelon, the staff at Lost Art, Triston Manco, Nicholas Ganz, Celso Gitahy, the Jonathan Levine Art Gallery, the Choque Cultural Gallery, Os Gemeos, Highraff, Speto, Onesto, Titi Freak, Boleta, Vitche, Nunca, Alexandre Orion, Zezao, Kboco, and all of the artists, companies, and affiliates that have contributed to the creation of and development of Brazilian graffiti and urban art.
Long before the graffiti artists of New York began tagging walls, painting pieces end-to-end, bombing subway trains in "Wildstlye (interlocking letters),” and anything else in sight; Brazil had been using the artful expression as a way of communicating political messages and other ideas to the masses. Originating in Sao Paulo, graffiti art in Brazil has spanned the country, becoming as deeply rooted in the culture as its indigenous ancestors.
In his 1928, Manifesto Antropofago, the Brazilian poet, Oswald de Andrade termed country’s characteristic of adaptation as, “antropofagia (cannibalism).” Referring to the eating or ingesting of one culture and melding it with another, the same ideologies presently flow through the veins of the Brazilian people; uniting it socially, economically, and philosophically.
Although New York’s traditional hip-hop inspired styles of graffiti have been influential to Brazil, its artists have taken an organic approach making a genre all of their own incorporating: indigenous and folkloric themes, urban life, political affairs, and everyday occurrences that inspire the artist.
Tristan Manco is one of several contributing authors of the book, Graffiti Brasil. The collage of photos and short stories, documents the formation and evolution of the graffiti culture of Brazil.
“Graffiti may not be as fashionable as it has been in the last few years, but I think the energy in Brazilian graffiti is unstoppable and inspiring,” said Manco.
Due to Brazil’s isolation from the rest of the world, artists have had to use improvisation and imagination, in order to adapt and create unique styles, techniques, and mentality, in order to progress in the ever changing art.
“The rough and the smooth mixed together. The frenetic cult of pichacao tagging, mixed in with free-flowing, free-thinking, unaffected artistic creation, and the “DIY (Do It Yourslef) attitude,” painting with whatever is available,” explained Manco.
Role -The Sunday Roll Sessions:
Sunday, consider the day of rest to many, but not for the graffiti artists of Brazil. Referred to as “Role,” the Sunday roll is a day where artists can work with little restriction. With few pedestrians and police on the streets; walls, buildings, train yards, and anything else with a surface becomes fair game
“It depends very much on the city and the location,” explained Manco.
Sunday is traditionally the day to paint pieces in Brazil; this is done during the day. It still isn't legal, but artists have their strategies for this. Generally the authorities have more important things to do, but if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, you could become the recipient of beatings, humiliation, some time in custody and worse. On the other hand if a project is sanctioned then the authorities will help deliver paint, scaffolding, drinks for the painters, and even a police cordon!”
From the aggressive pichacao writings, and modern graffiti text, to vibrant and colorful murals that span all edges of buildings and walls, the artists bring life to the ever morphing metropolises.
Pichacao, The Unknown Phenomena:
First appearing in on walls in Sao Paulo as rebellious political messages, Pichacao, pronounced “pee-sha-sow” (“Piche,” means tar in Portuguese), is considered the traditional Brazilian style of street writing.
“Brazil's graffiti culture during the 70’s and 80’s was generally overlooked by the worldwide scene, but during that time there were many developments and some great artists, as culture and politics developed around it,” explained Manco
Since the cost of spray paint (Montana which is a heavy favorite) and other tools, such as flow pens and ink or paint markers, are over priced, pichacao is primarily done with small 2-3” foam rollers and latex or house paint carried in plastic soda bottles for easy mobility and access.
Many Pichadores, as the artists are known, thin down their paint with water and other forms of liquid, in order to make it last longer. Unlike the graffiti styles seen in North America, Europe and through out the world, Pichacao, is solely Brazilian in creation. Simplistic, yet aggressive, it is appears almost mathematic in construction, with letters being congruent in width, and equally parallel in length and height.
Predominantly painted on “nice” and expensive buildings, the bold black lettering posed political statements, poems and other ideas, against an unbalanced economy, beginning in Brazil during the late 1970’s to 80’s Brazil.
Today it can be found in most metropolitan areas throughout the country, with variations in style based on the region and location. For example, in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, pichacao is written with spray paint, rather than latex or house paint. The tags are small and looping in nature. In Salvador, the tags are larger in scale and take up more space than in neighboring states.
Pichadores are like urban acrobats that scour the cities at night; they go to great lengths, from making human ladders, to leaning off of the edge of a building several stories up, in effort to get their messages or crew or individual names read. Crews can consist of any where from 20 to 50 artists. For height, human ladders are formed where, the smallest member paints. Pichadores usually begin painting in their pre-teens, around the age 10 or 11. They paint till the late teens or mid-twenties.
Similar to the United States, when caught for misdemeanor offence as a minor, the most that the police can do is call the artist’s mother, but as an adult, getting caught can have a drastic effect on one’s future. But there is much glory in the risks taken, and some artists continue to paint well into the later years.
One of the better known pichacao artists is Tchentcho. Known for his Dare Devil styled fearlessness, he has painted on some of the tallest buildings in Sao Paulo. With the assistance of press coverage, Tchentcho became a graffiti legend. Other artists began to mimic his feats, attempting to reach higher locals.
“During the 80’s, Sao Paulo was proclaimed a graffiti capital; a title that it still deserves,” said Manco.
Pichadores in Sao Paulo have been inspired stylistically by heavy metal album covers from bands like Motor Head, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and even Brazilian thrash-metal band, Sepultua.
An evolved version of this is, Graphixo. A combination of traditional pichacao and the bubble and tight outlines of American hip-hop graffiti calligraphy, the two styles fuse together, spawning angularly exaggerated and brightly colored pieces.
Bombs, Stencils, and Terrorists:
What sets Brazil’s urban art scene a part form anywhere else in the world is that it heavily incorporates the country’s history. And as the saying goes, “History repeats itself,” modern day lettering and pictures incorporate elements of pichacao, American hip-hop, animated characters, graphixos, futuristically abstract text; moving back to folkloric, and indigenous inspirations.
There is also a strong sense of brother and sisterhood. In respect of their pichacao predecessors, graffiti painters do not “buff” or write over the work. They either paint above or around it, resulting in an extended outreach of unification.
“By the mid 90’s, the scene began to mature, as some amazingly innovative work began coming from Brazil's relative isolation,” said Manco. “This isolation was key to creating unique work from artists, such as Vitche, Herbert and Os Gemeos.”
Over the years, graffiti has Artists such as Herbert Bagilone, Onesto, Tinho, Speto, Nunca, Nina, Vitche, Titifreak, Boleta, Highraff, the Os Gemeos (means “twins” in Portuguese) and many others, have moved Brazilian graffiti from the streets and incorporated into stickers, wood carvings, graphic designs, advertising, and alternative mediums of art and pop culture.
It is important to note that although each graffiti artist has an individual and trademark identifying style, whether working solo or in groups, with an equal goal and passion in mind, collaborations on works is frequent.
Pieces referred to as “sopa de letrinhas” or “Alphabet soup,” is created by multiple artists painting on several closely spaced buildings, the end result is a chain of signatures, characters, and graphics that create a large visual masterpiece.
Illegal versus Legal:
There has been an ongoing controversy in the graffiti culture about gallery and other legal works being of value, compared to those illegally painted on the streets. With the availability of space in Brazil artists do not focus on this aspect of the scene. In addition, with the high costs of materials, it is not surprising that many artists seek government grants to create their works.
“The Brazilian graffiti scene is a strong force in many ways - there are many gigantic murals made in collaboration with the government and many community projects that benefit the community and the artists,” said Manco. “Graffiti artists are a persuasive force in this regard. With illegal work, this is much a political statement by taking space for themselves and creating something that either has a message or an artistic purpose.”
Brazil’s own, Choque Cultural Gallery, based in Sao Paulo, is a contemporary art gallery that exhibits pop and “outsider” art. Since its first exhibition in 2004, the Choque Cultural has become a safe harbor for artists in their ideals and contemporary styles. With an ever changing environment, it is hard for an artist not to become intoxicated by its explosive energy.
In conjunction with the Jonathan LeVine Art Gallery in New York, which exhibits works in comic book, graffiti, illustration, and pop culture influence, it expands past the mockingly labeled, “low brow” street surrealism and imagery. In stead, it bring new perceptions of art to the eyes of the contemporary art lover, championing the genre and celebrating artists ideals and perceptions of society and culture past and present.
In early March of 2007, the two galleries teamed up with seven artists (Boleta, Fefe, Highraff, Kboco, Onesto, Speto, Titi Freak, and Zezao), bringing them to Holcome L. Rucker School, in the Bronx, New York, to create, The Bronx Mural Project. While painting several murals on the schools’ exterior walls, its purpose was to educate the students involved on Brazilian art and culture.
The mass creation of murals was followed up by, Ruas de Sao Paulo, a survey of Brazil’s 40 year-old street art scene, featured at the LeVine Gallery, which showcased the artists’ works to the public.
In the past graffiti may have been perceived as North American in creation, Brazil has taken it to another level never before imagined. From it’s beginnings in pichacao, to its evolution into the abstract and other forms of modern media, with the infusing of adaptation, isolation, creativity in technique and style, the Brazilian graffiti and urban arts scene has left its humble borders to explore and impact the world round.
* Credits to Caleb Neelon, the staff at Lost Art, Triston Manco, Nicholas Ganz, Celso Gitahy, the Jonathan Levine Art Gallery, the Choque Cultural Gallery, Os Gemeos, Highraff, Speto, Onesto, Titi Freak, Boleta, Vitche, Nunca, Alexandre Orion, Zezao, Kboco, and all of the artists, companies, and affiliates that have contributed to the creation of and development of Brazilian graffiti and urban art.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
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