Não Pixe, Grafite (Don’t tag, Graffiti) The Evolvement of Pixação to Graffiti Street Art in Brazil

                 History of Graffiti and Pixação

     The war on graffiti being an artistic expression or an act of vandalism is a heated debate that continues today. Thousands of years ago, before the term graffiti was founded, indigenous people drew the first drawings on cave walks. Further down the road, ancient Romans and Greeks used buildings to write protest poems; graffiti made its first debut in New York City in the 1970s when "taggers" began using spray paint to write their tag names on facilities and subway cars around the city. 
    Sao Paulo, Brazil, has not been a stranger to graffiti street art, with the city walls serving as a canvas as far back as the 1930s when political candidates used them for campaign slogans—continuing through the 1960s when students protested against the tyrant Brazilian military government. They would spray paint phrases of their nonagreement, writing words like "abaixo a ditatura" meaning down with the dictatorship as an act of civil disobedience.  

     

     Pixação has been around since the 1940s; it is a form of graffiti that began in Sao Paulo to protest government, inclusion, and social justice. Pichadores originally wrote their response protests to political campaign slogans with tar( pixação is derived from the Portuguese verb 'pichar' – to tar) across the streets on jarring buildings. Dying off some in the 1970s, pixação picked back up in the 1980s using inspirations for using thin Old-Norse-style letters in their titles and band names letterings from popular heavy metal rock music albums. Compared to graffiti, many view pixação as a crude form of expression and an act of vandalism rather than an artistic expression. Pixação is referenced and referred to as tagging, while street art is known as graffiti, a more accepted movement. 

Because of pixação, the Brazilian government began to ban and prosecute pichadores caught in the act treating it as criminal vandalism. In 1999 the Brazilian government started a project called Não Pixe, Grafite (Don't Tag, Graffiti), bringing around 35 street artists together to showcase their diversity with modern styles. Rio de Janeiro was the first area in Brazil to legalize graffiti street art in March of 2009; law 706/07 states that as long as the property owner approves the street art, it is legal. The 20th century has produced some of the most unique and beautiful mural pieces that give character to Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Street art portrays powerful messages of social justice like pixação but in a tolerable artistic way. 

                         Sao Paulo Street Artists

   

Kobra

    Eduardo Kobra was born in 1975 on the outskirts of São Paulo, Brazil, in Jardim Martinica. Growing up in a poor neighborhood, he joined a gang of taggers at age twelve and began scaling the city's hardest-to-reach areas; he was arrested three times for environmental crimes. Currently, he has created massive street art murals not only in São Paulo but on five continents around the world. Kobra Since holds the record for a giant graffiti mural in the world, 'Etnias' was painted to celebrate the 2016 Olympics held in Rio, covering 2,500 square meters. He surpassed his record in 2017 with a work in honor of chocolate occupying a wall of 5,742 square meters on the margins of the Castello Branco Highway in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. 
    The Muro das Memórias project was assembled in 2007 that showcased Kobra's talent and began to catch many people's eyes. He studied vintage picture scenes of São Paulo and began recreating them around the city in sepia tones or black and white. The project's success became his style and brand, classic imagery with a modern graffiti street art element. From New York City to Moscow, Kobra has left his artistic mark in many cities worldwide. His various projects voice strong messages through historical personalities who have made remarkable accomplishments and fought through violence to portray hope and peace.

Oscar Niemeyer, Eduardo Kobra 2013

Airbrushed paint on the entire side of a skyscraper on Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, with a 52-meter-tall polychromatic portrait of a renowned Brazilian architect

    Kobra's street art Oscar Niemeyer is a tribute to a prominent key figure in modern architecture in Sao Paulo. Within Kobra's mural are many colorful geometric shapes that make up the shape of Niemeyer's face and hands. Within the artwork are several architectural structures created by Niemeyer. The triangular light pastel-colored shapes in the background shades give demission and depth that make a 3D figure in the foreground stand out. The abstract realism techniques Kobra uses are modernized to his artistic vision. Niemeyer's facial shape is prominent in the formation, but the geometric forms hide the architectural figures.  
    Abstract forms and curves characterized that Kobra used portray Nimeyers' architectural designs. Kobra uses shapes that are not angular but relatively round with soft lines."I am not attracted to straight angles or to the straight line, hard and inflexible, created by man. I am attracted to free-flowing, sensual curves."-Oscar Niemeyer.

OSGEMEOS (Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo) 

    OSGEMEOS, translated to "the twins," is a brother street artist duo born in 1974 in Sao Paulo. Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo grew up using artistic ways to communicate and play with each other; through hip-hop and family encouragement, they began artistically speaking with their community in the 1980s. They found most of their inspiraSelaron'stheir mixed-media artistic creativity came from the streets. Graffiti is the best way they have found to express their creative aspirations, the streets where they do most of their work are ever-evolving as a community of their own.

The OSGEMEOS team, nationally and internationally, shares their street art through visual language with many communities worldwide. They share encounters of experiences life offers naturally and delicately. The streets where they were schooled in the talents they possess today have become the language of many different influences and cultures that inspire their works.    

Giant in the Corner of Justo Ajambuja Street in Cambuci, 

Os Gêmeos, 2004 

Airbrushed paint mural in the traditional suburb of Cambuci, in São Paulo.

    Crime, poverty, and drug rates have been a problem in Sao Paulo for many years and continue to this day. Many street artists portrayed these messages in their graffiti works. Giant in the Corner of Justo Ajambuja Street in Cambuci shows a tall figure with a full-face ski mask typical of a burglaer, holding a handbag that seems out of place. The horizontal lines that make up the facial features make the character's facial expressions seem mischievous, like they just took someone's handbag quietly and are trying not to seem like they committed a crime. Street art has a surrealistic element; the face cover and bag depict a burglar, while the outfit the character wears looks like an average citizen's daily attire. Neither clothing nor the character has shadowing elements cast on it; the dress is brightly colored reds and pinks which leads one to believe they are not a criminal. They are hinting at the struggle of poverty even for a noncriminal Brazilian. 

Rio de Janeiro Street Artists 

Jorge Selaron

Jorge Selaron was born in Chili in 1947 and died iKobra'se Janerio in 2013 from an apparent suicide. He was a world-traveling p"inter and ceramic artist. In 1983 he ended up in Rio de Janerio, lov"d it, and raised a family there until he passed away. The home he lived and died in was on top of a staircase connecting two bohem"an neighbo"hoods, Lapa and Santa Teresa. 

The staircase he lived on was in poor shape; in 1990" he began renovating some of the stairs near his home by ad"ing traditional colors of the Brazilian flag, blue, yellow, and green ceramic tiles. Selaron started seeing this project as "n artistic project that he conPaulo'sw'rking'on until his death. In an"interview, the staircase would only be completed on the day he died; the project lasted for twenty-three years. 

Selaron struggled financially his whole life; when he ran out of money to buy tiles "or th" staircase, he would craft and sell paintings. Once word began to spread about his staircase project, travelers worldwide would bring tiles from their countries to add. There are tiles Selaron handpainted on the mural and many birds. Red is the prominent color despite his usage of traditional Brazilian flag colors. As a native of Chili, red was Selarons favorite color and the flag of his home country. 

The Escadaria Selarón, Jorge 

Selaron, c.1990-2013

 

125 meters of steps covered in bright ceramic tiles of many different colors, elements of organic and tradition, and tiles that make up beautiful pattern arrangments. 

After word spread of Selaron's street art, tourists donated tiles from other countries. The staircase holds an Alaskan tile too! 

    Jorge Selaron's staircase project is one of the unique works of art I have ever seen. It is a mural representing the world coming together to help construct a marvelous work of diverse art. It started as a renovation project to build a safer set of stairs outside the home and became an abstract worldwide famous community art project. Selaron kept the staircase relatively traditional to the country of Brazil and his native country, Chili, by incorporating blue, yellow, and green tiles on the stairs and massive side columns of bright fiery chili reds. The donated tiles from travelers are not added to the original structure but instead incorporated within a tile of traditional colors of Brazil, or Chili encases them.The staircase follows a 3-dimensional pattern throughout, except for the random geometrical shapes created by cutting the tiles of solid colors to fit around them. With all the staircase's busyness, the tiles' horizontal placement and the nearly consistent pattern make it easy to look at; it is smooth and has a calming effect despite the chaos within.   

    Selaron was made an official Rio de Janerio citizen before his death. His staircase became an official city landmark in Rio de Janerio in 2005 and was showcased at the 2016 Olympics held in Rio.        

Rita Wainer

    Rita Wainer, a native of Sao Paulo, is a mixed-media artist born in 1977. She moved to Rio de Janerio in 2013 and left the fashion world to commit herself as a full-time painter. Wainer comes from a family of well-known artists, actors, and publishers but strives to be independently known for her poetic, rebellious, and feminine visual arts. She will put her ideas not just on paper, but plates, canvas, walls, and anything that will capture her creative inspirations.

    The murals Wainer crafts are soft and simple, like a lovely poem. 

Female marine: yearning and love – I keep waiting for you.

Rita Mainer, 2017 

Airbrushed paint on a large parking building located on Boulevard Olimpico in Rio de Janeiro, not far from Kobra’s Etnies.

The murals Wainer crafts are soft and straightforward, like a lovely poem. There is no color added behind the woman's face; the structure of the building serves as facial and t-shirt colors. This technique makes the forefront features of the face pop off of the building with a 3D effect. Despite the black hair and red heart being a solid color, the background building textures still are visible. With no outlining of the art piece, it has a soft feminine touch to it. "Yearning and love – I keep waiting for you." is written on the banner drawn horizontally to depict wind; while her hair is also horizontally blowing away, the heart remains firmly planted atop the woman's head. The color intensity is dull, giving a gloomy sadness to the portrait; the textute of the building under the eyes looks like tears streaming down the face. 

Conclusion

My goal with the blog exhibits I researched and created was to step outside my comfort zone and dig deep into internet research to find unique themes and artists to showcase. I accomplished that, with this blog post being my favorite. I am a typical Alaskan who loves to travel, but within the continental US, I have only been out of the country to Mexico and Canada. Exploring art from around the world has been eye-opening and fun to research. Graffiti street art is impressive; I have always been intrigued by how a few cans of spray paint can create such spectacular works of art, and the Brazilian street art I explored was some of the most beautiful I have ever seen! The coolest part was learning where it started and how many movements have evolved from irritating vandalism to being considered miraculous works of art for whole communities to see every time they pass. After stepping out of my box and focusing on finding the most unique and exciting artworks to explore, I may take it a step further and trace the country to experience new places, cultures, and art forms! If I am brave enough to travel to Brazil and visit Sao Paulo or Rio de Janerio, I will be the first to take a graffiti walking tour!   

 Works Cited

Childs, Greg. “A Tale of Two Graffitis: The American Tag and the Brazilian Pixação.” AAIHS, 23 Sept. 2016, https://www.aaihs.org/a-tale-of-two-graffitis-the-american-tag-and-the-brazilian-pixacao/.

Design , Ellos. “Biografia.” Eduardo Kobra, Dec. 2022, https://www.eduardokobra.com/biografia. 

Mikocki , Lara. “Mural Tribute to Oscar Niemeyer in Brazil by Eduardo Kobra.” Designboom, 19 Mar. 2013, https://www.designboom.com/art/mural-tribute-to-oscar-niemeyer-by-eduardo-kobra/. 

Siwi, Marcio. “Pixação: The Story behind São Paulo's 'Angry' Alternative to Graffiti.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 6 Jan. 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jan/06/pixacao-the-story-behind-sao-paulos-angry-alternative-to-graffiti.  

Official Website , Osgemeos. “Home.” OSGEMEOS Official Website – Projects and News, Dec. 2022, http://www.osgemeos.com.br/en/biography/. 

Green, Renata. “Street Art in Rio De Janeiro.” The Voice of Colors: Bye:Myself, 9 Nov. 2022, https://byemyself.com/street-art-rio-de-janeiro/. 

Editor , Free Walk Tour. “Escadaria Selarón: A Free Open Air Masterpiece in Rio De Janeiro.” Free Walker Tours, 2 July 2020, https://freewalkertours.com/selaron-staircase/.