The New York Times, march 07, about Ruas de São Paulo exhibition
BENJAMIN GENOCCHIO
‘RUAS DE SÃO PAULO: A SURVEY OF BRAZILIAN STREET ART’ Brazilian street artists, many of them school dropouts, have long covered the exposed walls and buildings of cities like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo with their art. Though it is an illegal activity, it is rarely policed, and has flourished as a result. The first major New York gallery exhibition of Brazilian street art, at Jonathan LeVine, is a flamboyant powerhouse: the walls, floors and parts of the ceiling are decorated with a tangle of kaleidoscopic murals in tripped-out colors; rollicking spray-paint works on wood, clothing and canvas; and a surprising diversity of assemblages and sculpture made of found objects. It looks like a cross between graffiti, tattoo designs, underground comics and Pop art. (The show includes a mixed-media installation by Daniel Medeiros, known as Boleta, above.) Not only will the artists make their works from anything, they will also create them just about anywhere, as a documentary video on display reveals. It follows the artist known as Zezão through a labyrinth of storm-water and sewage tunnels beneath São Paulo in search of caverns with unspoiled walls to paint. Then he goes to work with an industrial flashlight and a mini paint roller. He tells the interviewer that he has staked out this unlikely turf to avoid having his design painted over, the fate of many of his predecessors. Down here, alone, he is painting his Sistine Chapel. (“Ruas de São Paulo: A Survey of Brazilian Street Art,” Jonathan LeVine Gallery, 529 West 20th Street, ninth floor, Chelsea, 212-243-3822, www.jonathanlevinegallery.com, through March 17.)
‘RUAS DE SÃO PAULO: A SURVEY OF BRAZILIAN STREET ART’ Brazilian street artists, many of them school dropouts, have long covered the exposed walls and buildings of cities like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo with their art. Though it is an illegal activity, it is rarely policed, and has flourished as a result. The first major New York gallery exhibition of Brazilian street art, at Jonathan LeVine, is a flamboyant powerhouse: the walls, floors and parts of the ceiling are decorated with a tangle of kaleidoscopic murals in tripped-out colors; rollicking spray-paint works on wood, clothing and canvas; and a surprising diversity of assemblages and sculpture made of found objects. It looks like a cross between graffiti, tattoo designs, underground comics and Pop art. (The show includes a mixed-media installation by Daniel Medeiros, known as Boleta, above.) Not only will the artists make their works from anything, they will also create them just about anywhere, as a documentary video on display reveals. It follows the artist known as Zezão through a labyrinth of storm-water and sewage tunnels beneath São Paulo in search of caverns with unspoiled walls to paint. Then he goes to work with an industrial flashlight and a mini paint roller. He tells the interviewer that he has staked out this unlikely turf to avoid having his design painted over, the fate of many of his predecessors. Down here, alone, he is painting his Sistine Chapel. (“Ruas de São Paulo: A Survey of Brazilian Street Art,” Jonathan LeVine Gallery, 529 West 20th Street, ninth floor, Chelsea, 212-243-3822, www.jonathanlevinegallery.com, through March 17.)
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