By Adeyinka Olaiya/Brazil
In Brazil, street art has been present in the largest and most important cities, generally on walls and on a large scale.
Art in the street has helped beautify different cities in Brazil and around the world , making each city unique, it has also played roles in different protests and manifestations.
A real artistic expression, street art promotes social inclusion, it promotes art through artistic interventions, stimulating creativity in young people and children from the most remote parts of the city.
A number of poor communities are invited to join artists to all convey the idea, concept or political message, or just to create art and beauty.
Street art is the expression that refers to artistic manifestations developed in the public space, distinguishing itself from institutional or business manifestations, as well as mere vandalism.
At first, an underground movement, street art was gradually constituted as a form of artistic making, encompassing several modalities.
Same as urban art, street art doesn’t need time, space, cultural movement or recognition to happen, it just needs the street. And so it happens, in the least expected places, in ghettos, dumps, under bridges, on damaged walls and in abandoned places.
It is one of the most important cultural and social manifestations of a people.
It is prevalent in large and important cities as a means of conveying messages through society.
A display of colors on the walls, street expressions , urban designs and expressions are all artistic outdoor interventions with themes that go from politics to religion, going through social problems and so on.
This art can be done through painting, sculptures or installations. In any case, street art is marginal art, and it is not tied to any aesthetic standard. It is considered a free art, being the maximum expression of the society and of being a citizen.
Like many countries around the world , Brazil use street arts to protest against bad leadership , dictatorship.
In fact , at a time, dance appeared as a political and social manifestation, making room for other artistic movements such as street drawings, theatrical presentations, in addition to “living statues”, an example of art that can be found on the corners of big cities until the current days.
Several artistic expressions and manifestations became the tools used against the military rule that siezed the nation for decades.
The first signs of street arts manifestations in Brazil began to appear in the 70s, more precisely in the city of São Paulo, with the graphite works, which were made on the walls.
Ironically or not, these paintings emerged at a very troubled time in history along with the repressions and censorship caused by the Military Dictatorship in Brazil.
In the beginning, there was no aesthetic concern with the letters, it was just enough that they were legible to the point of conveying the message of dissatisfaction among the people.
Given this, many of the street demonstrations emerged as alternatives for communication, denunciation and even as a source of income for marginalized people living on the outskirts of the country.
The main idea of Urban Art or “street art”, as it is also called, is precisely to migrate from the so-called “consecrated” places, that is, intended for exhibition and artistic presentations such as theaters, cinemas, libraries and museums, and expand to places of visibility of everyday art, spread through the streets.
For artists, street art doesn’t need time, space, cultural movement or recognition to happen, it just needs the street, because this is the way it happens, in the least expected places: in ghettos, in garbage dumps, under bridges, on broken walls and in abandoned places.
In addition, street art communicates struggles, complaints and protests related to social and political issues or poetic manifestations.
The greatest examples are paintings and grafites. The graphite is without a doubt, the most popular manifestation of street art is graphite.
They are stylized designs usually made with sprays on the walls of buildings, tunnels, streets.
The art, however, has expanded and currently there are several techniques such as work done in 3D, which draws a lot of attention in the society
Also seen as a movement in Brazil , street artists are involved in manifestations, they use the arts to make agitations against the society and the government in most cases.
Most street artists are involved in environmental challenges , they encounter all possibilities to operate in a society where the government mediates in all public manifestations.
It is no doubt that the conceptual and critical character of the Street art is what most attracts young people to this culture, even maintaining its growth.
The aesthetic character of grafite has attracted more and more artists to the Urban Art movement.
With nearly 20,000 years of cultural evolution behind it, graphite or street art is still the same art, and nothing seems to be able to stop its phenomenal popularity.
The simple idea of drawing on a wall has become something truly extraordinary in an increasingly walled and walled world. Art has come a long way from the cave paintings.
It was inevitable that the script was replaced by images and stood out with exceptional contrasts.
The advent of illustrated graphite was undoubtedly responsible for the greater momentum of followers among the general population.
As the writing style is almost completely illegible to the untrained eye, graphite photos allow for a clearer, more poignant message.
Another popular artistic manner of manifestation in Brazil, street art spreads throughout the world, emerged in the United States, in the 70s, and has a dynamic and ephemeral character, which can be immortalized by photography.
However, scholars claim that this art dates back to very ancient periods, since the Greeks and Romans already transmitted messages through the city streets, as well as having many artists in urban centers (music, theater, dance).
The central proposition of street art is precisely to leave the so-called “consecrated” places, that is, destined for artistic exhibitions and presentations (cultural equipment: theater, cinemas, libraries, museums), to give visibility to everyday art, spread throughout the streets.
Though restricted against all forms of destructive messages, street arts in Brazil is already a culture in the dailies of the Brazilian people, a style of art and expression that has launched the Brazilians among the best street artists in the world.
In street arts in Brazil and other parts of the world, street arts presentations are given individually or in groups, they are performed in the streets and can be theatrical, musical or circus in character, like the jugglers and clowns, who are at traffic lights;
The type of Installations in street arts is any type of object or distinct material used with the aim of bringing about a change in the existing scenario. Currently, there are numerous types of artistic installations as examples of street art;
Stencil: very similar to graphite, this type of technique uses paper cut out as a mold and spray to fix the illustrations and drawings; Posters: this is a very common type of urban intervention, where posters are placed around the city.
Stickers and Collage: also called “sticker art” (art on adhesive), this type of art uses the application of stickers; Poems: any type of literary expression that arises in the urban environment, whether on benches, walls, poles, buses, etc.
Living Statues: the statues are a very unusual example of Urban Art. Artists usually present themselves painted and characterized. Often found in big cities as a form of tourist entertainment, living statues do important work with the body.
For a long time, most artistic manifestations (graphite ) on the street were carried out without the prior authorization of the person responsible for the space, taking into account everything from the use of residential and business walls to the occupation of squares.
Faced with this situation, art gained a reputation as a marginal, causing many artists to be unwanted and considered criminal, even when they express themselves in public places.
An example of how Street Art and, above all, graphite is seen today was the episode that took place in January 2017, in the city of São Paulo, where the considered “largest open-air graphite mural in Latin America” was covered up by a gray paint, under the guidance of the mayor of the time, João Dória.
The mayor claimed that most of the art exhibited there was graffiti and left only a few paintings uncovered.
However, many artists claimed and spread colorful phrases around the place, indicating dissatisfaction with the decision of the government or the authorities responsible.
It is obvious that Street Arts has come to stay , it has helped change the society, it has helped convey messages to the society .
