by: Scott Goodson
Rio de Janeiro is the most spectacular city in the world against any criteria. Mine include "views" (Rio scores 100%), "Music" (again Rio gets the highest marks), “Beaches” (Impenema and Copacabana!). And “Beautiful women” (ok, ok it’s a little chauvinistic but true none-the-less!), again Rio gets full marks. But something else is incredible about Rio, and it’s something you may least expect – graffiti.
Brazil is bursting with creativity. The streets of it’s citires are
the galleries. Old busted brick walls, crumbling masonry eaten away by
sea air, and mightily rusted steel structures along the roads of Rio
are all deliciously handcrafted by the art maestros of the street.
Incredible. Brilliant. Wow. Unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.
East Berlin and Istanbul may come close, but nothing compares to this
level of creative artistic quality.
Breath-taking color. Graffiti of the future, new graffiti that makes
the city look young. Graffiti that makes the city look MORE beautiful
instead of ugly, and makes a statement at the same time in that Latin
American street movement kind of way.
This is the kind of stuff that makes Keith Haring’s work look more like old Steamboat Willie in comparison.
Check out but a few photo-grabs below that I took this week on my
walk about. The city legally allows artists to paint decrepit walls,
such as the city’s huge Jockey Club compound that takes up an
incredible amount of space near the Lagoon and the Botanical Gardens.
Well done Rio’s City council, I salute your bold move to support
culture and Brazilian youth culture. Your city is that much more
amazing for it.
Original Post: http://scottgoodson.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/01/street-grafitti.html
