White Hot Magazine about Ruas de São Paulo exhibition
by Chris Maceira RUAS DE SAO PAOLO: A SURVEY OF BRAZILIAN STREET ART Jonathan LeVine Gallery In a progressive leap, the Jonathan LeVine Gallery has bravely offered their “white cube” as a blank canvas to Boleto, Fefe, Highraff, Kboco, Onesto, Speto, Titi Freak, and Zezao, eight young street artists from Sao Paolo. The space has been divided in such a way as to provide each artist space to display their own signature style of graffiti on a variety of surfaces, including the walls and ceiling. Instead of the strict demarcation from one artist to the next, that one might expect to result from such an arrangement, what emerges is an uninterrupted flow, and the manifestation of a street vernacular that can best be described as purely Brazilian. The stylistic motifs among the group of artists are as diverse as the people of Brazil. Onesto’s emblematic cartoon-like figures could well be inspired by the graffiti of San Francisco legend, Barry McGee, who the Brazilian would know well due to