Lighting up the sun dyed streets of Sao Paolo with the rich recesses of imagination comes the work of Brazilian artist, Magrela. Taking the mind bending characters of her ‘Vomitos’ series through a spiralling journey into textured layers of psychologically charged emotion, she twists and turns her fluid alter egos into an wild spectrum of situations, times and places.
I started painting on the streets of Sao Paolo in late 2007 with a few friends and since those days I have never stopped. I spent some time painting male characters and then of course, I developed the characters that I use most, who tend to be women. When they see graffiti on the wall, I hope that people reflect on their lives, on society. and the larger questions within that society, on portraiture and the sense of self, on their personal problems, wider social ills, the ravages of capitalism and selfishness. What I express in my painting is what the world gives me to work from. Many people viewing my work on the street are shocked because it does contain very strong imagery which causes discomfort. Many people love it and many people hate it, but either way their is a visceral reaction. I like when people bother, because that is what I want to cause, discomfort. I usually paint on old walls and degraded surfaces as I think that adds a strength to the graffiti. I paint all over my city, and a little piece of me is in every part of town.
I came across places in Sao Paulo that I had never been or even thought of going to and my painting has enabled me to meet amazing people and brilliant artists along the way. Street culture in São Paulo, began in the late 70’s with graffiti, an artform that is still very strong in São Paulo. Graffiti are words written mostly in buildings and walls presented within a unique typography - letters characterized by straight, long and sharp lines seeking to cause the greatest possible impact. Most graffiti artists came from pixação. Even today, graffiti art and pixação are illegal in São Paulo, and if you’re caught by the police on the streets painting, you can be prosecuted for environmental degradation. Sao Paulo is a very big city, so that law is basically a failure. allowing us to paint in many places.
READ FULL INTERVIEW IN LSD MAGAZINE ISSUE 7
No comments:
Post a Comment