GRAFFITI AND STREET ART
COLLABORATOR PROFILES ISABELLA SIEGEL
PROPOSED LOCATIONS
LITHUANIA
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4-10
ESTONIA
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11-13
SERBIA
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2
14-25
GREECE 26-37
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ROMANIA 38-49
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GEORGIA 50-57
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JORDAN
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58-67
SENEGAL
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68-75
S. AFRICA
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76-81
INDONESIA 10 82-95
JAPAN 96-103 11
MEXICO 104-121 12
BRAZIL 122-137 13
ARGENTINA 138-157 14 3
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LITHUANIA
While Kaunas, Lithuania, is decorated with the work of accomplished muralists, it is not well known for its street art. The city has in fact drawn renowned international street artists, including OSGEMEOS, who themselves have Lithuanian ancestry. My own roots are in Lithuania, Belarus, and Romania. Eastern European countries are too often cast aside in discussions of innovation, especially in cultural style. Many Lithuanian muralists have a distinct illustrative style, some of which stems from traditions of Lithuanian illustration. Unlike street art, however, tagging is highly criminalized in Lithuania. The government even offered a bounty for anyone to track down one writer, SOLOMON, before he was caught by the police earlier this year. I will talk to taggers like SOLOMON about what drives them to keep tagging, when the consequences are so dire. Some artists, like MORFAI, do both illegal artwork and commissioned work, contributing to the city’s unique built environment all the while.
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MORFAI
Kaunas Street artist and blogger.
LITHUANIA - COLLABORATORS
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ERNEST ZACHAREVIC Kaunas Graffiti and street artist
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SHALTMIRA
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VYTENIS JAKAS
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Vilnius and Berlin Street artist and performance artist
Kaunas Street artist and community artist
ROKAS KRILAVIÄŒIU
Kaunas Graffiti and tattoo artist
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MORFAI
LITHUANIA
Kaunas Street artist and blogger Morfai is a Lithuanian street artist and graffiti artist who engages both in assigned and uncommissioned artistic work. He often collaborates with other artists, such as Vytenis Jakas.
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ERNEST ZACHAREVIC
LITHUANIA
Kaunas Graffiti and street artist Ernest “ZACH” Zacharevic is a Lithuanian-born artist combining fine art techniques with a passion for creating art outdoors. Experimentation lies at the heart of Ernest’s style, with the only constant being the dedication to his ever-changing concepts. With ideas leading the way, he removes the restriction of artistic boundaries, moving freely between the disciplines of oil painting, stencil and spray, installation and sculpture; producing dynamic compositions both inside and outside of the gallery space. Ernests primary interest is in the relationship between art and the urban landscape, with concepts often evolving as part of a spontaneous response to the immediate environment, the community and culture. (From artist’s website.)
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SHALTMIRA
LITHUANIA
Vilnius and Berlin Street artist and performance artist Shaltmira is Lithuanian artist, chaote, occultist, shapeshifter, nomad and enigma. Provocative, bold and has recognisable aesthetics, inspired by black metal and alchemical illustrations, as well as spiritual studies of ancient civilizations. Discordianism is natural for her, she is always questioning the authority, society’s rules and norms. Her art has connections with human rights activism, radical performances are constructed to provoke the non-dualistic way of thought, the tools she uses involves a wide field of medias, starting with her own body as canvas for magick tattoos and expanding towards the rituals filmed in VR. Virtual space is her home. Shaltmira has risen from the underground and d.i.y. culture and simultaneously kept one foot in the academic space, at the moment finishing her MA in Graphics in Vilnius Art Academy and aiming for Doctor of Arts degree. Shaltmira’s creative field in wide and she is using different medias wisely to prove her point, which is inner monarchy. Recently Shaltmira expanded her creative field and started making sonic sigils with Michael Cashmore, culminating in TRANSFORMATION RITUAL, during the Psychic TV concert in Berlin. (From artist’s website.)
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VYTENIS JAKAS
LITHUANIA
Kaunas Street artist and community artist Artist Vytenis Jakas, who founded the Courtyard Gallery , is solving the problem of alienation of people and neighbours. And he seems to be succeeding – the gallery has become a popular gathering place for neighbours, artists, city residents and tourists. When a lot of people get together in the courtyard, new ideas are undoubtedly born, and the new drawings on the 19th century walls keep telling new urban stories. Some of them are extremely sad, telling of the Second World War and the Holocaust. (From Lithuania Travel.)
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ROKAS KRILAVIČIU
LITHUANIA
Kaunas Graffiti and tattoo artist “I’m a tattoo artist who does street art from time to time so I only have two pieces made in Kaunas, Lithuania. Also I have a photography project analysing contemporary street art and street artists identity. But I know a lot of people here in Kaunas who does street art seriously so we could chat and I could hook you up with more people.” (In email from Rokas.)
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ESTONIA
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Estonia is home to the annual Stencibility festival, a huge international street art festival that brings artists from all over the world to paint in the small northern country. Estonia is also home to its own distinctive street art scene scene, including the magical designs of Lex Zooz.
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LEX ZOOZ
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STENCIBILITY
Haapsalu City and London Graffiti and street artist
Tartu Street art festival
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LEX ZOOZ
ESTONIA
Haapsalu City Graffiti artist and gallery artist Lex is an Estonian artist from Haapsalu. Since 2015 works in own decorative modern style as an urban mural freelancer, illustrator & designer of various projects. He links own paintings mainly with the sea and others nature elements. (From artist’s website.)
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STENCIBILITY
ESTONIA
Tartu Street art festival Stencibility is a street art festival in its most authentic quintessential definition. We believe in free independent street art and do everything to support its existence. The festival unites artists and people who support this cause. OUR MANIFESTO: 1. Public space belongs to everyone who uses it 2. It is everyone’s duty to take care of it like you would in your own home 3. The purpose of street art is to enrich, not ruin, public space 4. All additions are welcome: if you don’t like it - improve it 5. To guarantee ultimate creative freedom, actions must be guided by conscience, not by law We like to experiment with the format of the festival to give life to the most interesting and bizarre street art projects, explain the true nature of street art to the wider public, and support the active scene of street artists. (From festival website.)
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SERBIA
The graffiti scene entered Serbia with the rest of Europe in the mid-1980s, first with legendary graffiti artist JENS and crews like the Fantastic Boys. Muralism grew as well, until the mid-90s, when civil war struck. There was little time to paint, and there were few colors even available in the stores. Since the early 2000s, however, graffiti has been on the rise once again in Belgrade. Aleksandar Djordjevic, author of Street Art Belgrade, says that “graffiti and street art is generally a very personal art form. Due to the Internet and globalization the styles themselves are not too specific for certain countries, but the subjects are. There is a lot of humor on the walls here – it’s a way of dealing with the present social and economic issues. And there is a lot of emotion.” Serbia’s street art society is generally dominated by men, and TKV stands out as one of only a few femme-identifying street artists in the country. Her stencil work and powerful wheatpastes are a prime example of the best political street art in the scene.
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TKV
Belgrade Graffiti, street, and gallery artist
SERBIA - COLLABORATORS
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STIHNAASFALLTU Belgrade Street artist and graffiti blogger
PIJANISTA Belgrade Street artist
ARTEZ Belgrade Street artist
ENDO
Čačak Graffiti and street artist
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SERBIA - COLLABORATORS
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DEMON
Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina Street artist and multi-media artist
WUPER Inđija Graffiti artist
PAINT KARTEL
24 Belgrade
Graffiti crew and organizors
CISM303
25 Belgrade
Street artist
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TKV
SERBIA
Belgrade Graffiti, street, and gallery artist TKV, or Kraljica Vila (which roughly translates to “the queen of the fairies”), is one of few female street artists in Belgrade. Practicing her art since 2004, the 29-year-old attended a high school for graphic arts before attaining her master’s in culture of global media in 2012. Her message is clear and consistent. According to the Cultural Gender Practices Network, she wants to exercise her right to the city’s public spaces and open a dialogue about who has access to those spaces and how they can provide a path to change. (From Teen Vogue profile on TKV.)
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STIHNAASFALLTU
SERBIA
Belgrade Street artist and graffiti blogger “This blog is about the art that belongs to the street, that is, about everything that art is located on asphalt, facades, electricians, banners, patics, cegers, exhibitions of galleries ... In Belgrade above all, because it is my city. But in other places around the world that inspire. Photo archive of colored Belgrade began to branch on my computer, folders by artists, techniques, locations. And then Iva asked me why I did not open the blog. I’ve been thinking about it already, I guess who would read it, who is interested in street art at all, and whether it’s important when, that is, it’s just what makes me happy.” (From artist’s website, translated from Serbian.)
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PIJANISTA
SERBIA
Belgrade Street artist Pijanista is a street artist as well as an architecture professor at the University of Belgrade.
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ARTEZ Belgrade Street artist
SERBIA
Artez is a Serbian artist whose style is defined as a mixing photorealism with illustration. He draws inspiration for his works, besides location, from the things and persons that are present in his everyday life. He usually has a photo of something that inspires him as a starting point, but during the painting process he improvises a lot, mostly because he likes to get inspiration from the site itself. For years he was trying to find the best way to express himself and transfer ideas from his head to the flat surface – wall. Along the way, he has been working with 2D and 3D letters, different types and styles of characters, photorealism, and in the end he got stuck with the mix of “little bit from everything�. (From Widewalls profile on artist.)
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ENDO
SERBIA
Čačak Graffiti and street artist Vuk Đuric, born on 6th April 1992. in a place called Istok. Faculty of Arts graduate in Pristina with temporary place in Kosovska Mitrovica , on field of Graphical Design at professor Ester Milentijević. He has exhibited in several group exhibitions,one solo exibition, participated in plenty graffiti festivals and winner of several projects. (From artist’s website.)
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DEMON Belgrade Street artist and multi-media artist
SERBIA
Demon is an artist from Zemun (Belgrade). He draws 3D graffiti with a special emphasis on constructivism, robotics and cybernetics. (From artist’s website.) He makes 3D models of the machines in his paintings. He lives in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but goes back and forth between the two countries.
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WUPER
SERBIA
Inđija Graffiti artist WUPER KEC is graffiti writer known throughout Serbia for his skill.
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PAINT KARTEL
SERBIA
Belgrade Graffiti crew and organizors The graffiti writers CASH, HOPE, DULAIT, RISK, JUNK and SARIN make up Paint Kartel, a Serbian collective dedicated to decorative art. Based in Belgrade, they specialize in hand-painted murals that make us of various techniques, typographic jobs and advertising signage. In addition, another one of their objectives is to manage events and projects that promote the exchange of knowledge. (From profile written by MTN WORLD.)
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CISM303
SERBIA
Belgrade Street artist
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GREECE
In recent years, Athens, Greece has seemingly exploded with graffiti. The Exarcheia section, a thriving independent anarchist society, stands in contrast to other areas of the city covered in illustrative murals. Although it is now considered safe, many police have stopped heading to this area of town, fearing the many violent clashes that led to its independence. Virtually every wall is covered in tags and colorful political messages. Street art here is darker and more confrontational in contrast to the colorful murals of animals and plants in other parts of the city. FIKOS, for example, is one of Greece’s most celebrated muralist, who combines his training in traditional Greek Orthodox iconographic painting and his background in graffiti. Some street artists, like the team Imaginary Rooms, use art education as a method of community action and service in the city. I also plan to speak with political protesters to discuss how Exarcheia’s street art style may relate to more extreme protest tactics. In the birthplace of democracy, radical politics have once again found headquarters, and it shows on the city walls.
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GREECE - COLLABORATORS
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ALEXANDROS VASMOULAKIS
Athens Street artist and installation artist
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FIKOS Athens Street artist
ATH1281
Athens Street artist and graffiti artist
GERA
Thessaloniki Street artist and muralist
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GREECE - COLLABORATORS
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OLGA ALEXOPOULOU
Athens Street artist and muralist
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THISISOPIUM
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IMAGINARY ROOMS
Athens Street artist
Athens Street art and community art collective
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LOAF
Athens Graffiti and street artist
ALEXANDROS VASMOULAKIS
GREECE
Athens Street artist and installation artist Alexandros’ work is most noticeable in his hometown, Athens, where he produced numerous pieces visible in different parts of the city. With his natural instinct for scale and composition he painted many pieces on doors, telephone boxes, hoardings and on the flanks of buildings up to 10 stories tall, generally making his home city a more attractive place to live. (From Widewalls profile.)
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FIKOS
GREECE
Athens Street artist and muralist At the age of 13 he started studying Byzantine painting under the guidance of George Kordis, with whom he later collaborated for 5 years painting murals in Orthodox churches, while at the same time developing his own personal painting style. Having a background as both a graffiti artist and an iconographer in Orthodox Christian churches, Fikos is continuing his developmental journey by painting murals in public spaces. The value of these works is exceptional, as it is the first time that the monumental Byzantine technique meets a contemporary art form such as street art. The themes of his murals emanate from the Orthodox Christian tradition and ancient Greek mythology. (From profile on I Support Street Art.)
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ATH1281
GREECE
Athens Street artist and graffiti artist Funny, provocative and absurd, Ath1281 is an Athens-based street artist adept at creating eyecatching and powerful work. Although his drawings, murals and ceramics at first seem comical, there is a more cutting approach at the core. The works vividly pierce through the facade of human civilisation and offer scenes which evoke huge pathos, as well as amusement, from the viewer. (From the Culture Trip.)
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GERA
GREECE
Thessaloniki Street artist and muralist Gera was born in Athens, Greece and is a mural artist that started as a graffiti writer in 2009. He is a student at the School of Fine Arts and he has also studied Graphic and Applied Arts. His work focus on Glitch Art and characterized by realistic portraits and abstract forms that coexist in a space full of slides and intense color contrasts. (From artist’s website.)
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OLGA ALEXOPOULU
GREECE
Athens Street artist and muralist Olga Alexopoulou, graduate of the Ruskin School of Art of Oxford University. In the last years her works have appeared in walls, museums and galleries around the world. In 2017, she was included in the 50 best women street artists in the world in publications in London and Paris. Olga was chosen to represent Greece in the global graffiti event ‘She’s a Leader’ by Women’s Forum and was invited to the award winning Street Art Österlen festival, Sweden. In 2016 she was invited by the University of Michigan to do a mural for the Global Graffiti Project. More recently her work was featured in the Biennale Internationale d’ Art Mural of France and in May 2018 she exhibited her work and created a mural in New York on behalf of the Bronx Art Space. At the end of August 2018 Olga completed her idea of making Quantum Blue with a small team of scientists at the Berkeley Laboratory, California. (From artist’s website).
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THISISOPIUM
GREECE
Athens and London Street artist Alex Simopoulos (aka Thisisopium) is a multi-disciplinary artist from Greece, currently based in London. His works span across both indoor and outdoor spaces, using a wide variety of mediums. His main interest is creating public murals. He has been on the forefront of the Greek urban art scene and through the years he has collaborated in various projects with artists from every background, exhibited solo in Athens and London and in group shows in the UK, Mexico and Spain and has left his mark in various countries among the world, from Spain and Germany, to Greece and India. His work in the public space is based on a visual language full of spiritual symbolism, using nature and our detachment from it as a key-point to discuss consciousness and the human condition with references that range from primitivism to surrealism. His work has been featured in numerous publications and belongs in private and public collections in Greece and abroad. (From artist’s website).
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IMAGINARY ROOMS
GREECE
Athens Street art and community art collective Imaginary Rooms is a small creative studio, that participates in various artistic projects and follows the philosophy that “spontaneous expression and self-awareness build a society with a consistent basis”. Our vision and unconditional mission is our commitment to provide high quality creative services and to make a “better world”, through the fertile interaction with the public. (From artists’ website.)
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LOAF
GREECE
Athens Graffiti and street artist Loaf is a Street Artist/ Graphic Designer from Athens, Greece. His works are located on numerous points around the centre of the city mainly depicting an owl decorated with colours and graphical combinations. (From I Support Street art profile.)
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ROMANIA
Romania’s graffiti began in the early 90s, much of it in protest of the stillpresent powers of the recent Communist regime. The Department of State Security, (Romania’s secret police,) wasn’t dissolved until 1991, and by that time, an estimated 1 in 3 Romanians was an informant. Young people in Bucharest started to send messages through graffiti to the authorities, often through slogans, such as jos cosmarul, which means “take down the nightmare.” They would even invoke Vlad the Impaler in their cries against political injustices. Romania is known for its political protests – this past December, over 2 million Romanian ex-pats came back to the country to protest its political corruption. Today, graffiti isn’t as condemnable as it once was, and the thriving illustration scene has blended with street art to create a large muralism and city-beautification movement. Graffiti, however, is still a powerful voice in the protest movements in Romania, which is echoed in the images from artists like ITI. The history and culture that surrounds Romania’s street art is highly valued, and is tracked and logged by libraries such as Urban Collectors and mapping projects like Un-Hidden Bucharest.
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ROMANIA - COLLABORATORS
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PISICA PĂTRATĂ Bucharest Street artist
ITI
Bucharest Graffiti and street artist
ANIA
Bucharest Street artist
SWEET DAMAGE CREW Bucharest Street art crew
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ROMANIA - COLLABORATORS
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FEEDER
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LOST OPTICS
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THE ORION
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PADURE
Bucharest Alternative Romanian news source and graffiti researchers as founders of Un-Hidden Bucharest
Bucharest Street artist and graffiti blogger
Bucharest Street artist and muralist
Bucharest and Porto, Portugal Street artist and illustrator
PISICA PĂTRATĂ
ROMANIA
Bucharest Street artist Pisică Pătrată is a street artist who lives and works in Bucharest. He is also known as Ciubi or Alexandru Ciubotariu and also makes comics, illustration, painting, urban toys or animation. (From artist’s website.)
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ITI
ROMANIA
Bucharest and Berlin Graffiti and street artist In 2012, I decided to start my own game, draw my own stickers like a child enjoying a new set of colored crayons to further explore new techniques - painting, collage and more. My works reflect the impact of man made games (media/ economy/ education/ religion/ politics) on collective and individual consciousness. I approach these issues with irony or through the filter of love as the solution to drive change and reveal the corrupted game. ITI is my username in the artistic game I chose, the phonetic Romanian interpretation of Spielberg’s famous E.T. character. (From artist’s website.)
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ANIA
ROMANIA
Bucharest Graffiti and street artist My name is Ania, I’m a photographer from Cluj, Romania and I’m mainly interested in street photography and experimental printing. I got into wood transferring a while ago and I love the fact that every transferred photo gets a unique texture because of the wood grain. It’s a fun and messy technique and you have to use your hands for the most part of the process, which I really enjoy. Lately, I started putting them up on the walls of my city because I love the randomness of literally sharing them with every passerby. (Written by the artist.)
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SWEET DAMAGE CREW
ROMANIA
Bucharest Street art crew Sweet Damage is a crew created by four graffiti writers from Romania. Each member has a unique style developed in more than 15 years of work in this domain. The official team members are Cage, Biex, Recis and Lost.Optics. Starting 2015 they have new additions to the team. Pandelee, Boeme & Shatran. Their collaboration started in this formula after taking part in some national and international graffiti contests. (Written by artists.)
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FEEDER
ROMANIA
Bucharest
Alternative Romanian news source and graffiti researchers as founders of Un-Hidden Bucharest “We are feeder.ro, “the alternative nation’s news agency”, a website which, for the past 14 years, has been publishing news and articles on the urban scene, alternative events, contemporary art, music, architecture, design, contemporary dance & more. Now we are broadening our scope in order to expand the conversation that feeder has been maintaining with its readers and partners. In its 14 years promoting quality events and news, feeder rounded up an online network of trendsetters and influencers, djs and promoters, along with visual artists and key figures in general who made their mark on and continue to advance Bucharest’s image.” (From FEEDER website.) Un-hidden Bucharest is a cultural project produced by Save or Cancel x feeder.ro, designed as a series of 3 new art interventions and a guided art journey into public space. The pilot edition takes place in 2017 and produces an online and a printed edition map that contains 24 places where the dwellers together as well as tourists can find independent street art works in the public space of Bucharest. The project produces 3 urban installations / signals at Sala Omnia (Centrului Național al Dansului), Lente, Cinema Marconi, and an alternative cultural tour of recent artistic interventions throughout the public space in Bucharest. (From FEEDER website.)
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LOST OPTICS
ROMANIA
Bucharest Street artist and graffiti blogger Lost.Optics is a Romanian artist whose style can be described as post graffiti, futuristic style with digital art influences. The combination of bright colours, specific geometry and peculiar modeling of the whole suggest the artists sophisticated aesthetic approach. He started writing in the streets of his hometown back in 2001, but it was ten years later when his career started to kick off. Without a formal art education, his work is based on his sense of experimenting, urban exploration, as well as his love for geometry, always trying to give more potential to decaying industrial spaces with different surfaces and textures. (From artist’s website.) He also runs Urban Collectors, an interactive platform on graffiti & street art that aims to: facilitate an open dialogue between street art and communities; create opportunities for street artists and grow their visibility/exposure; organize workshops and festivals on street art; produce books, periodicals, audio-video documentaries and research on street art & graffiti. (From Urban Collectors website.)
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THE ORION
ROMANIA
Bucharest Street artist and muralist “A self-taught astronomical street artist who had fallen from the stars among the pioneers of the Romanian street art scene.� (Written by the aritst.)
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PADURE
ROMANIA
Bucharest and Porto, Portugal Street artist and illustrator Padure is a Romanian illustrator and street artist currently living in Portugal. In 2008 he graduated in fine arts at Timisoara and moved to Portugal where he began to show his work. Since then he has participated in Street Art Festivals and exhibited pieces all around Europe. Through a simple and clean line style Padure’s work focuses on sharing ideas, having modern lifestyle as a main subject. Irony and sarcasm are often present in his drawings to show today’s society. (From Moosey Art.)
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GEORGIA
Graffiti and street art are still relatively new phenomena in the small Georgia, but it has taken the walls of the country by storm. Two pioneering graffiti artists, Dr.Love (Bacha Khoperia) and Miro (Mirian Shengelaia), have recently opened “Fabrikaffiti,” the first graffiti shop in Georgia. The shop also functions as a studio art space, where artists can share their work with each other, and even a graffiti school. The school teaches month long courses on the history and impact of graffiti, as well as painting techniques. As the country of Georgia lives under the constant threat of Russia, graffiti is rising as a form of protest art. GAGOSH often incorporates political messages into his work, speaking out about issues like military presence in the country. More lighthearted street art exists there, too, however: MASHOLAND is an entire world created by the illustrator, MASHO, of animals and creatures from a parallel universe that fly and crawl on the walls. The artist TAMOONZ exists somewhere in the middle, creating images based on Georgia’s reality, but augmenting them into something more surreal.
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MUSYA
Tbilsi Street artist and muralist
GEORGIA - COLLABORATORS
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DR. LOVE
Tbilsi Street artist and organizor
GAGOSH Tbilsi Graffiti and street artist
MASHOLAND Tbilsi Street artist and designer
TAMOONZ
Tbilsi and London Graffiti and street artist
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MUSYA
GEORGIA
Tblisi Street artist, muralist, and graffiti artist I have been born and raised in Georgia, a former Soviet Union country in the far east of Europe. I was born in 1991 in the seaside city Poti. When I turned 16 years old, I moved to capital city of Georgia, Tbilisi. Currently I am 25 years old and I am based in Tbilisi. I have chosen my occupation since childhood. I always knew that I would do nothing, but only art. Afterwards, while studying at Art Academy I decided to study Graphical Design and elaborated my knowledge in this field. Nowadays I am working as Art Director in one of the most successful advertising company in Georgia and also, I am pursuing some side projects commercial and non-commercial. I am using different techniques for working, such as painting digital illustrations, hand-painting, wall painting, streetart and stencil; I am also occupied with creating some handicrafts and jewelry. (From artist’s website.)
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DR. LOVE
GEORGIA
Tblisi Street artist and organizor Dr.Love is the pseudonym of a Georgian street artist. He is known for his multi-layer, full color stencils, text-based painted murals and street installations. His motives are often pop-cultural references put into a humoristic or critical context, but the main purpose of his work is to spread love. Dr.Love was born in 1985 and raised in Tbilisi, Georgia. He started with stencil art in 2010 and was inspired by the Georgian street artist Miro. (From artist’s website.)
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GAGOSH
GEORGIA
Tblisi Graffiti and street artist GAGOSH is a Tbilisi, Georgia-based street artist who creates stencils, installations, street poetry and mosaics. His work protests social issues such as the shortage of green space in Tbilisi, labor rights, unemployment, air pollution, social stigmas, the inconvenience of Tbilisi streets for disabled people, exceeded politics and lack of love in society. In his installations, Gagosh tries to connect art with technical and IT fields. His works implement cyberart and new media art techniques into street art. (From Wikipedia article on artist.)
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MASHOLAND
GEORGIA
Tblisi Graffiti artist, street artist and designer “So, here you are, finally made it to this parallel universe, inhabited by various creatures that have whimsical stories. Masholand aims to charge every ‘traveler’, like yourself, with a positive energy and help them reconnect with their inner child by activating imagination. Likewise other worlds, it is inhabited by different various creatures. Each one of them has a fantastic imagination - whatever they imagine will grow out of the surface and will stay there until their wish disappears.” (From artist’s website.)
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TAMOONZ
GEORGIA
Tblisi Graffiti and street artist Being a female street artist is not an easy task in Georgia, yet she proves gender does not matter in professions and is one of the pioneers in this sphere. As Tamoonz says, her artworks were inspired by the reality in the country. “I came up with the idea of creating such kind of illustrations based on our reality, what we see and feel every day. While looking at my artworks, one will find the characters who are very familiar to us, ordinary people like raspberry seller ,mini bus driver etc. As Tamoonz explains, her illustrations do not have any concrete goal and they do not focus on particular topic. Through her works of art she simply uncovers the reality and tells stories of ordinary people from an artist’s perspective. (From The Georgian Journal’s artist profile.)
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JORDAN
Ancient calligraphies are markers of cultural identity. In the Middle East, a new tradition has emerged, known as calligraffiti. Arabic script is a rich tradition, and today, designers, conceptual artists, and even architects have begun to incorporate such script into their work as well. Street artists have replaced the brush with a spray can, fusing traditional calligraphic imagery with contemporary graffiti styles. Jordanian street artists are active in social revolution: the Women on Walls organization has allowed many women in Jordan to enter the graffiti scene, such as Suha Sultan, Laila Ajjawi, and Joane A. Arida, among others. Through their art, they speak out about pressing feminist issues in the Middle East and especially in Jordan. Some, like Yara Hindawi, prefer a more illustrative stance, focusing on creating magical additions of friendly ghosts and flowers to the city walls. The Center for the Study of the Built Environment tracks the growth of street art in Amman, considering it an important part of the city’s architecuture.
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JORDAN - COLLABORATORS
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YARA HINDAWI Amman Street artist
SUHA SULTAN Amman Graffiti and street artist
DEEVGRAFF 63
Amman and Kuwait City Graffiti and street artist
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JOANNE A. ARIDA
Amman Street artist and muralist
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JORDAN - COLLABORATORS
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CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT Amman Non-profit, private study and research institution
MIG THE ROBOT
66 Amman
Graffiti and street artist
LAILA AJJAWI
67 Amman
Graffiti artist
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YARA HINDAWI
JORDAN
Amman Street artist
Over the last decade, Jordan has developed a peculiar underground culture in an effort to articulate a socio-political discourse which years of regional unrest have made more than necessary. This is not the case with female street artist Yara Hindawi, whose dreamlike art and a neutral voice stand out from the crowd. Her playful canvas, scattered here and there across the country, features bizarre cartoon-like creatures with pop colors and futuristic shapes juxtaposed to flowers, clouds and other real-life natural elements. Far from expressing a provocative message, her art evokes inexplicable feelings and recalls remote dimensions, where fear of the unknown acts as a catalyst of imagination and fuels creativity rather than pushing it back. Her work is based in the belief that ghosts are an integral part of the human spirit, and we should learn how to harmoniously live with them in order to master our most secret and deepest fears. (From Culture Trip interview with the artist.)
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SUHA SULTAN
JORDAN
Amman Street artist Suha Sultan is one of Jordan’s few female graffiti artists, but she is inspired to dismantle stereotypes and revitalize the city walls of Amman with colorful artwork.� (From Al-Monitor,)
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DEEVGRAFF
JORDAN + KUWAIT
Amman and Kuwait Graffiti and street artist Deev a graffiti writer, and a graphic designer from the middle east, born and raised in Kuwait moved to Jordan in 2012, started doing graffiti since 2010. (From artist’s website.) Although he has moved back to Kuwait, he is in contact with many Jordanian street artists that he will put me in contact with, and comes back to Amman from time to time.
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JOANNA A. ARIDA
JORDAN
Amman Street artist Arida is a a 20-year-old architecture student and muralist. Birds are a common theme in Arida’s work and she integrates them into a lot of her paintings. The direction the birds are flying in has no particular significance, but the birds in Arida’s paintings usually originate from the body pictured and fly away. (From article by The National on murals in Jordan.)
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CBSE
JORDAN
Amman
Center for the Study of the Built Environment The Center for the Study of the Built Environment (CSBE), which was founded in 1999, is a nonprofit, private study and research institution that aims at addressing these challenges affecting the built environment in Jordan and beyond. The built environment is defined in a comprehensive manner to include all physical components of human settlements such as buildings, streets, open spaces, and infrastructure. CSBE is therefore an interdisciplinary center that addresses areas including environmental studies, urban design and planning, conservation, architecture, landscape architecture, and construction technologies. CSBE has developed an interactive map to document works of street art in Amman. (From the CSBE website.)
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MIG THE ROBOT Amman Graffiti artist
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JORDAN
LAILA AJJAWI
JORDAN
Amman Graffiti artist Laila Ajjawi is a graffiti artist born and raised in a Palestinian refugee camp outside of Irbid, Jordan. Her work focuses on visibility for women living in the Middle East, particularly refugees facing discrimination and limited resources in their countries of residence. She has created murals with Women on Walls a public art project based in Egypt aimed at empowering women through street art. (From Wikipedia article on artist.)
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SENEGAL
The graffiti scene in Senegal is little known in most of graffiti literature, but it is the major hub for African street artists outside of South Africa. It is the birthplace of Festigraff, Africa’s first and only recurring international street art festival. Docta, the founder of Festigraff and of Dodaxdem Squad, is known as the original graffiti pioneer in the country, starting his work in the early 80s. Graffiti and hip hop were somewhat linked in Senegal, and much of that culture was used as a method of protest, giving voice to the voiceless. Graffiti is not seen as a deviant act in most of Senegal, and is tied into community action artwork. GUISO has showed me videos of how he and his friends talk with the neighborhood communities, which are often their own neighborhoods, before doing their work, and their tags and bombs are seen as empowering and beautifying. The other major Senegalese crew is the RBS crew, mainly overseen by KRAFTSMAN. “The Senegalese like graffiti,” says KRAFTS. “People like to hang out in front of our wall to have a good time, or they use it like a back ground for photos, video, movies or just for their pub. It brings them joy and they appreciate the colors.” RBS runs the Last Wall festival, and their artwork often incorporates Afrofuturism as well as old-school graffiti tactics.
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GUISO
Dakar Graffiti artist in RBS crew
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SENEGAL - COLLABORATORS
KRAFTSMAN
71 Dakar
Graffiti and street artist
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74
RBS CREW Dakar Graffiti crew and festival organizers
DOCTA
Dakar Graffiti and street artist
DOXANDEM SQUAD Dakar Graffiti crew and Festigraff organizers
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GUISO
SENEGAL
Dakar Graffiti artist Born in Dakar in 1981, Guiso has been a graffiti artist since 2001. His work can be traced back to Docta, one of the pioneers of graffiti in Senegal. He practices his art on the street, but also on clothes and canvases. (From Imago Mundi Art entry.)
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KRAFTSMAN
SENEGAL
Dakar Graffiti artist KRAFTSMAN 911 aka KRAFTS, RadiKL K-Racterz Killer, is a part of the RBS Crew. He has connected me with the whole crew through email.
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RBS CREW
SENEGAL
Dakar Graffiti crew RBS crew was born from a common desire to innovate in order to raise the art of graffiti to the highest level through strong messages in philosophy and benevolence. The RBS CREW is created on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 in Dakar. Initially it was the idea of three (3) members KING MOW 504, MAD ZOO, KRAFTS in order to join forces and work in the same perspective and offer the best of themselves in their field of Excellency. Soon the group embraced more engaged dimensions as the founding members shared the same ideals of justice, respect, and harmony. In less than a year the group expands and welcomes the arrival of new members who would be illustrated in the same platform of communication Thus we will see the adhesion of: KOWSE, BEAUGRAFF, CHIMERE, DIABLOS, TRIGA, GUISO, ELMEMF, MAN INNOV, KROMAGNON, FREEMIND, SONGRAFF, AKONGA, NOUROU ZAMAN . Very quickly, these artists make themselves a place of choice within the group and together they impose themselves in the middle of the graffiti thanks to their talent and the deep sense of RESPECT that they preach. RBS CREW is currently composed of 16 members. (From RBS Crew website.)
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DOCTA
SENEGAL
Dakar Graffiti artist and organizor The internationally known graffiti artist and leader of Dakar’s graffiti movement, Docta (Amadou Lamine Ngom, b. 1975), has said, “We are really socially conscious, super engaged by what goes on around us. Furthermore, our hip hop remains pure. It’s a hip-hop for the community; it defends the community and must speak to the community. If it doesn’t do this, it no longer has a raison d’etr” (Rabine 90). Docta considers graffiti to be a “divine expression translated into the human…it attracts the other because it’s divine. If it’s just human, it remains individual” (Rabine 97). Since 2010 Docta has led a ten-day event, Festigraff, every year through his organization known as Doxadem Squad. (From Street Art: New Orleans and Senegal by Adam Blumberg.)
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DOXANDEM SQUAD
SENEGAL
Dakar Graffiti crew and Festigraff organizers Doxandem Squad is an international association of graffiti artists that promotes graffiti art and urban culture in Senegal and internationally in various artistic forms. The association is composed of about twenty members including 15 graffiti artists and 5 administrative volunteers. Doxandem Squad is at the origin of the Festigraff, an international graffiti and street-wear festival in Africa and the “Graff & Santé” social and humanitarian caravan. The goal of the association is to create a cultural receptacle between the artists of the world to promote exchange and provide a framework of expression for the promotion of cultural diversity. The dynamism of its members and their presence in several countries make Doxandem Squad a lever for awareness, exchange, sharing and contribution to the issues of societies related to culture, environment, health, education and development. (From Google Arts & Culture entry on Doxandem Squad.)
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SOUTH AFRICA
40 years of insurrection make South Africa’s Johannesburg and Cape Town historical hubs of protest. In the 80s, walls were sprayed with political messages, often calling for the release of prisoners. Political revolution blends with the influences of international graffiti and traditional methods of wallpainting like that of the Nbdele culture in West South Africa. I have gotten in touch with Grayscale, a graffiti culture store and gallery, and Cale Waddacor, who runs Graffiti South Africa, a huge database and news source for graffiti artists, who will connect me with all generations of taggers and street artists. Artists like JOFF and R1 incorporate their contemporary and often abstract art practices into their public installations, while street artists like Chris Auret take a more illustrative approach.
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SOUTH AFRICA - COLLABORATORS
78
GRAFFITI SOUTH AFRICA Cape Town Cale Waddacor - blogger and graffiti resource
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CHRIS AURET
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R1
81
Cape Town Street artist and muralist
Johannesburg Street artist and installation artist
JOFF
Port Elizabeth Street artist and muralist
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GRAFFITI SOUTH AFRICA
SOUTH AFRICA
Cape Town Cale Waddacor - blogger and graffiti resource Established in 2011, this website showcases graffiti and street art in South Africa as well as the rest of Africa. It provides artists with a platform to display their work and promotes South African graffiti on the world stage. The graffiti scene in South Africa is still relatively young, but it is growing rapidly. Graffiti only really started after the abolition of apartheid and the rise of the hip hop culture in the early 1980s. Cape Town is regarded as the ‘mecca’ and the movement soon spread to other cities like Johannesburg. Today, some of the pioneers continue to paint their names while a new wave of writers take to the streets. (From Graffiti South Africa website.)
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CHRIS AURET
SOUTH AFRICA
Cape town Street artist and muralist “My work aims to portray some sort of energy-filled capsule of a moment. An “object” still possessing life, simply because life went into it. Currently I’m very interested in creating artworks in the public space, predominantly painting murals. I’m interested in the public voice, what people want to talk about, what truths and frustrations exist and in possibly being a conduit for this voice. I’m interested in doing right to wrongs. I’m interested in how far I can take myself and therefore other things. And this will continue to change.” (From artist’s website.)
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R1
SOUTH AFRICA
Johannesburg Street artist and installation artist I consider the street as an open canvas. I work with urban interventions and collect every day found materials, transforming them and placing them back where they came from, to become a part of the city’s journey. The resulting artwork is tactile, moving within the motion of the cityscape. Like the street, the work finds its meaning once an interaction with the passer-by takes place. Working with processes of transformation, replacement and motion, my role as an artist is that of a mediator. My work subtly changes the city streets to create a dialogue and interactions between the environment and our experience of it. The artworks take ownership and manipulate city spaces, opening new relationships with daily familiarity. The end result carries conversations, becoming a fragment of the ever changing city’s history. (From artist’s website)
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JOFF
SOUTH AFRICA
Port Elizabeth Street artist and muralist Joff (Steven Carter) is a South African based artist, born in the city of Cape Town in 1983. Influenced by the flow and form found in initial experiments with ink, Joff has carved a unique style in his work, which ranges from film to studio art and street art. Much of his work explores and transforms the boundaries of anatomical structure: discovering proportions that feel comfortable to the eye while certain elements might be disfigured and not true to scale. In doing so, Joff seeks to represent beauty in the oddity of unnatural forms by relying on emotional connections we forge with particular recognisable and realistic details. (From artist’s website)
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10
INDONESIA
There was already political graffiti in Indonesia while it was still under colonial rule in the 1940s, when young people would paint “Bung Ajoe Bung,” meaning “Come on, man!” or “Hands Off Indonesia.” In the 21st century graffiti scene, the show FENOMENA fast-tracked graffiti’s popularity around Indonesia. Depending on how much media and internet was available, it developed at different paces in different cities, with Jakarta and Badung being the fastest. This also meant that cities across the wide country have developed unique styles. While still technically illegal in most of the country, there isn’t much of a crackdown on graffiti currently, so artists enjoy relative ease and time to do what they want on the walls. This allows for a lot of creativity, and the development of unique blends of traditional styles and graffiti bombing. A culturally conservative society, however, especially among older generations, means that a lot of graffiti is still not accepted as an artform by many. Street artists are usually independent, and are rarely commissioned, so most have other full time jobs in addition to the artwork they do on the streets.
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INDONESIA - COLLABORATORS
86
MIGHTY PIXEL Bandung Graffiti and street artist
87
OKY AKBAR
88
ROAR
89
Banda Aceh Street artist
Cirebon Graffiti crew
ANNTOZ / SENT
Depok Graffiti artist and graffiti workshop manager
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INDONESIA - COLLABORATORS
RMTK
22 Tasikmalaya
Graffiti and street artist
23
ZENT PROZENT Yokyakarta Street artist
ZOTER
24 Jakarta
Graffiti artist
ANKY5
25 Semarang
Graffiti artist
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MTWO
Jakarta Graffiti and street art crew
RIDER RIFKI
Badung Street and gallery artist
85
MIGHTY PIXEL
INDONESIA
Bandung Graffiti and street artist Mighty Pixel is a self-described “Pixeled anarchist” and “story [S/T]eller” based out of Bandung, Indonesia.
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OKY AKBAR
INDONESIA
Banda Aceh Street artist OKY AKBAR is a mural and graphic designer based in Aceh, Indonesia.
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ROAR
INDONESIA
Cirebon Graffiti crew Short for Release of Artistic Rage, ROAR is a 4-person graffiti crew based out of Cirebon. The artists in the crew are 9micro, Bart, Ko Wanna Aung and Ko Chit Htut.
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ANNTOZ / SENTZ
INDONESIA
Depok Graffiti artist ANNTOZ is a Depok-based graphic designer, illustrator, fine artist, and graffiti writer.
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RMTK / EREMTEKA
INDONESIA
Tasikmalaya Graffiti and street artist EREMTEKA or RMTK is known for his alien-like figures that are present throughout his work. He often collaborates with other graffiti writers, and has already gotten some of them interested in this project. He and I are also hoping to collaborate on some artwork together.
90
ZENT PROZENT
INDONESIA
Yokyakarta Street artist Zent Prozent is an Indonesia-based artist who specialises in street art and spray paint art. This long haired guy who is also a heavy metal lover, started his journey in the Art-world since he was a kid. Zent is self-taught and he has never studied in an art school, so it pushes him to learn everything about art by himself. He created his first mural in the year 2004. And then he joined a graffiti crew called “SKYK” in 2007. Zent started living his life as a fulltime-artist and has done commission jobs since 2009 till present. (From artist’s website.)
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ZOTER Yokyakarta Street artist
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INDONESIA
ANKY5
INDONESIA
Semarang Graffiti artist “I am an illustrator and an art student, and actually my work is only freelance and for street art for me it is part of a hobby. But here I am working on graffiti as just a form of exploring media and techniques, because I like exploring different media. I also have some graffiti street art friends, if you want to work with us.� (In email from artist.)
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MTWO
INDONESIA
Jakarta Graffiti crew MTWO is an abbreviation for MIX.TEAM.WRITER.ORGASME, a large graffiti crew based out of Jakarta. They also have an international online presence through the graffiti community, inviting people to share their designs.
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RIDER RIFKI
INDONESIA
Badung Street and gallery artist Erik Rifky Prayudhi is a street artist, muralist, painter, and sticker trader based out of Badung, Indonesia. He has told me that he also knows many of the other graffiti artists in the area, and can guide me around the town as well.
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JAPAN
Graffiti came to Japan in the 80s, with the advent of hip-hop and the film Wild Style. By the 90s, artists were incorporating Japanese pop culture into their work, blending graffiti styles with calligraphy, kanji, manga, and anime elements. However, while Tokyo has become East Asia’s graffiti capital, national campaigns have criminalized tagging to an extreme in the last ten years. The vast majority of graffiti is now in underground tunnels or under bridges, as anything in the public space is painted over almost immediately. If anything, however, this has made graffiti and street art even more popular as a counter-culture. Sanei Art gallery, in Osaka, represents three of Japan’s major graffiti artists: CASPER, VERYONE, and PS.1. While doubling as calligraphers and graphic designers, they still practice graffiti under the cover of night, as the sentences for graffiti can reach up to a month in jail. Street artists like ROAMCOUCH, on the other hand, often make their work through commissioned murals and city beautification projects.
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96
IMAONE
Tokyo Street artist and muralist
JAPAN - COLLABORATORS
99
ROAMCOUCH Gifu Street artist and muralist
100
CASPER
101
SANEI ART GALERY
102
TITI FREAK
Osaka Graffiti and street artist
Osaka Gallery representing VERY1, CASPER, and PS1
Osaka Street artist and muralist
97
IMAONE
JAPAN
Tokyo Street artist and muralist “Awkward face but skillful hands. A Kichijoji, Tokyo native born in 1980. A graduate of Kuwasawa Design Institute. Street-trained.” (From artist’s website.)
98
ROAMCOUCH
JAPAN
Gifu Street artist and muralist Ryo Ogawa, better known as RoamCouch was born in Gifu, Japan in 1976. He is a street artist and Ukiyo-e painter. He began to draw in his childhood, influenced by Japanese comics, and started working as a designer at the age of 18. Afterwards, he was diagnosed with a serious illness, which made him rethink his life and career and he subsequently made up his mind to become an artist. In 2011, now dubbed “RoamCouch”, he began his transition into a full-time artist. He produces his exquisite and romantic works of art by using over fifty different layers of hand cut stencil, and has been showcased at solo and group exhibitions both within and outside Japan. His detailed and rich stencil paintings redefined the stereotypical image of stencil art. In 2014, he opened his first solo show titled “A Beautiful Life” in New York and achieved an amazing feat of selling out the entire collection. RoamCouch started a project named “Emotional Bridge Project” in 2014 and has painted murals voluntarily to revitalize his hometown. His aim is to attract art fans to his hometown by publicly exhibiting his works of art. Calling his new style “Neo Ukiyo-e”, RoamCouch works on art pieces to clearly indicate Ukiyo-e of modern times by blending stencil art with Japanese handmade paper “Mino washi”. (From artist’s website.)
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CASPER
JAPAN
Osaka Graffiti and street artist CASPER’s work is influenced by multiple calligraphy styles, blending in his own, unique calligraphic format. He is one of the artists represented by Sanei Art Gallery.
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SANEI ART GALLERY
JAPAN
Osaka Gallery representing VERY1, CASPER, and PS1 SANEI ART STUDIO is a group of individual artists formed in 1999 by several volunteers in Osaka, Japan. With it’s foundation grounded in graffiti art from the streets, Sanei infuses their original style with a diverse variety of different subcultures. They have serviced several enterprises including music labels, and various shops with their original wall pieces, logo design, apparel, and album art. The stage of Sanei’s activities aren’t limited merely to Japan as several artists exhibit their talents around the world as well. The Sanei Art workshop, accepts consultation for various types of work ranging from design, production, interiors & exteriors, and of course, event appearances. (From gallery website.)
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TITIFREAK
JAPAN
Osaka Street artist and muralist Hamilton Yokota (aka Titi Freak) born in 1974 in SĂŁo Paulo, Brazil, he has Japanese ancestry. Titi Freak first began writing graffiti in 1995 on the streets of SĂŁo Paulo, Brazil. His style fuses Eastern and Western cultures, with fashion, pop imagery, illustration, graffiti and comic influences. He has created illustration work for many international ad agencies and several worldwide brands. He has also painted in the streets of cities around the world, and his fine art has been exhibited in galleries throughout Asia, South America and Europe. (From profile on URBN Nation.)
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MEXICO
In Mexico, graffiti is a manifestation of hybridity between Mexican and Mexican-American cultures. Like Brazilian pixação, cholo handstyles are distinct, known for their resemblance to classical European calligraphy. While cholo culture began in LA’s Mexican American communities, it has since travelled to Mexico City, particularly in the Neza neighborhood, and in the work of artists like Said Dokins. Urban art in Mexico marks feelings of insurrection, not only in graffiti, but in street art as well. Groups like Lapiztola cover the streets of Oaxaca in protest of governmental violence. As the barrier along the Mexico/US border has expanded, artists have claimed its walls as canvasses to protest the US government’s treatment of migrants. I am in contact with Rafael Schacter, who has studied these various forms of street art and graffiti in Mexico, and who, like myself, views graffiti as a form or urban ornament. Many artists, such as SPAIK, LELO, and CAME MORENO, incorporate cultural folk traditions and designs into their work.
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104
DUX ONE Zacatecas Grafffiti artist
MEXICO - COLLABORATORS
109
BNER
Cozumel Street artist
110
EDGAR
111
SAID DOKINS
112
AXOLOTL COLLECTIVE
Ensenada Grafffiti artist
Mexico City Street artist and calligrapher
Mexico City Street art collective
105
MEXICO - COLLABORATORS
113
FUNKY COOK
114
L3SUP3RD3MON
Mexico City Street artist
Mexico City Street artist and murlalist
EYESIDE
115 Mexico City Street artist
ARGEO
116 Mexico City Street artist
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MEXICO - COLLABORATORS
117
SPAIK
Michoacan Street artist
119
LELO
119
CAME MORENO
120
R.O.N.E.
Oaxaca Street artist
Pachua Street artist
Pachua Graffiti and street artist
107
DUX ONE Zacatecas Grafffiti artist
108
MEXICO
BNER
MEXICO
Cozumel Street artist
109
EDGAR Ensenada Grafffiti artist
110
MEXICO
SAID DOKINS
MEXICO
Mexico City Street artist and calligrapher For Said Dokins calligraphy and graffiti are intermediate practices of inscription and trace, of twisting symbolic orders and of political enunciation. Dokins lives and works in Mexico City. His cultural practice takes on contemporary art production, research and cultural management. He has put on curatorial projects related to urban arts and a number of political issues happening in his country. Among other awards, is the winner of the Iberoamerican Contemporary Art Creation Prize, Cortes de Cadiz, Juan Luis Vasallo 2015 in Cadiz, Spain. His work as an artist has been shown nationally and internationally in countries as Spain, Germany, Holland, Belgium, United Kingdom, Argentina, Chile, Brasil, El Salvador, Peru and others. It takes up the economy of medieval calligraphy, the energy and expressiveness of japanese calligraphy, besides creating a poetic based on pre-phonetic writing. For Dokins every experience is a trace, a psychic impression that creates a texture in our symbolic universe. In that sense, calligraphy and graffiti aren’t just on paper and ink, on the walls and spray, but on every event of our existence. (From artist’s website.)
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AXOLOTL COLLECTIVE
MEXICO
Mexico City Street art collective Axolotl is a collective creative (formed by a visual artist, two designers and an architect) that create projects of illustration and design of urban bias, a job for the dialog between the trends of international design and visual heritage of our Mexico. We have taken an axolotl ( endemic salamander Xochimilco channels), symbol of Mexico. We are involved in specific projects to support their preservation. Our work includes murals, public interventions, illustration, art toys, illustrated product design, and painting. We are always open to new experiences, wherever the “ajolote” can show the wonders of creativity and imagination. (From artists’ Behance page.)
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FUNKY COOK
MEXICO
Mexico City Street art collective Mauricio Tovar Valenzuela aka Funky Cook is from Mexico. He has been painting since 2013, the technique he uses is stencil and most of his works are on the street. (From I Support Street Art.)
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L3SUP3RD3MON
MEXICO
Mexico City Street artist and murlalist An inspiration to the aforementioned Farid Rueda, Mexico City native Lesuperdemon is one of the most recognisable names in the business, and is known for works that show much attention to detail as well as a fascination with geometry. Complex patterns in combination with vibrant colours characterize his works, as does a preoccupation with the cyclical nature of life. His interest in Euclidian mathematics also shines through, as does a tendency for whimsy with boggly cartoon eyes. (From Culture Trip.)
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EYESIDE
MEXICO
Mexico City Street artist and murlalist
115
ARGEO
MEXICO
Mexico City Street artist He began his artistic education in the Classical Russian Circus with the laureate master Anatoli Lokachtchouk. At the same time he studied at the UNAM the Design career; In 2015 he joined the Master of Arts in the Environment (Urban Art). He studied a Diploma in Narrative with Milo Manara. He painted murals in different cities and festivals around the world such as Art Basel Miami 2014, Up Fest Bristol 2015, C.A.L.L.E. and Pinta Malasaùa in Madrid in 2016 (earning second place), the Basque Country and Granada. He developed the Sequential Space project in the Radio UNAM building as an architectural novel. He has worked as an artist for Nike among other companies. Currently he continues to develop interdisciplinary projects between painting, narrative and urban art. (From artist’s website.)
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SPAIK
MEXICO
Michoacan Street artist Spaik is a Mexican urban artist whose colorful works are inspired by the Latin American folklore. He works mainly in Mexico but has also done murals in other countries in both Central and South America. In his paintings Spaik uses topics related to local traditions and makes mythical references of traditional stories. (From Street Art United States profile.)
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LELO
MEXICO
Oaxaca Street artist One of the most recognizable street artists, Mexican born LELO, is known for his colorful artwork in both small and large formats. Using spray, acrylic and latex paints (along with natural pigments), his bright and vibrant art explores and recreates the worldview of native towns, mixing in certain elements of his personal identity. You are likely to see hybrid elements in LELO’s art, combining empirical and scientific knowledge to create abstract, spiritual characters. He uses the street art and graffiti that we admire as techniques of orality and image, aimed to build a universal language. (From article on the artist in Medium.)
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CAME MORENO
MEXICO
Pachua Street artist Came defines his style by geometric and abstract elements in colorful compositions influenced by avant-garde movements such as cubism, pop art, and surrealism. Came’s work talks about the duality of space and time, between the earthly and the spiritual that exist through life, through his compositions he shapes his conception of the world. What allows you to create a colorful and aesthetic atmosphere representing energy through your imagination. (From artist’s website.) CAME also works around the world, most recently with public interventions in the United Arab Emerites. “The foundation is called Dezart Mural, and it is dedicated to promoting urban art in Abu Dhabi in 2 courts. We will work with a community so that they can be integrated to carry out the intervention in such a way that a sense of belonging can be generated.” (In email from the artist.)
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R.O.N.E. Pachua Graffiti and street artist
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MEXICO
121
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BRAZIL
São Paulo, Brazil, is one of the world’s most active graffiti sites. Central and South America have a vibrant history of political communication on city walls. São Paulo has produced some of the world’s most successful street artists, such as OSGEMEOS and Eduardo Kobra. The intensity of political street art culture has generated a space for conscientização, or a “critical consciousness,” even by a large portion of the population that can’t read or write. The Vila Madalena Graffiti School, part of the Cidade Escola Aprendiz, practices pedagogy and community placemaking through street art. São Paulo is also home to one of the world’s most distinctive tagging cultures: pixação. Long, sharp, rune-like letters echo heavy metal album covers popular in 1980s Brazil, when graffiti first hit São Paulo’s streets. Most pixadores come from outlying districts, where many were exiled through rapid gentrification and city renewal programs. They often target the very high-rise buildings that pushed their communities to the city outskirts. While mural-style street art is celebrated, pixação is criminalized, with fines now up to 10,000 reais, 10 times Brazil’s monthly minimum wage. I will talk with pixadores to learn more about how their writing reflects the anger and frustration of the disenfranchised. On the other hand, street art is almost completely legal in most locations, giving the artists time to create amazingly intricate designs.
122
BRAZIL - COLLABORATORS
126
CURA
Belo Horizonte Street art festival
127
SMALL
128
PABLO MALAFAIA
Santo André Graffiti and tattoo artist
Rio de Janeiro Street artist
129
AMARO Porto Allegre Street artist and muralist
123
BRAZIL - COLLABORATORS
130
131
SUBTU
S達o Paulo Graffiti and street artist
VCalvento
S達o Paulo Street artist and murlalist
SIDNEY HADDAD
132 S達o Paulo
Street artist and photographer
133
124
THIAGO VAZ S達o Paulo Street artist
BRAZIL - COLLABORATORS
134
EDUARDO KOBRA
São Paulo Street artist and muralist
135
RENATO REN
136
FREDONE FONE
137
GALO
Vitora Street artist
Goiânia Street artist
São Paulo Street artist
125
CURA
BRAZIL
Belo Horizonte Street art festival CURA is the first graffiti painting festival in Belo Horizonte. In its first edition in August of 2017 the festival realized the painting in 4 buildings and two walls, one located in the street SapucaĂ and another inside the Central Station of the Subway. In its special edition honoring 120 years of Belo Horizonte, the festival painted 2 buildings. All painted buildings can be seen from Rua SapucaĂ, transforming the street into the first lookout of urban art in the world. The painted murals are between 450 and 1,700 square meters, one of them being the tallest mural painted by a woman in Latin America at 56 meters high. Besides the paintings, the festival promotes discussion tables, art fair, parties and special actions always dialoguing with urban art and street culture. (From organization website.)
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SMALL
BRAZIL
Santo André Graffiti and tattoo artist Graffiti entered the life of this artist in 1999, when he lived in the region of the great abc where he spent his childhood and adolescence. Fueled by hip hop culture and the youth of the neighborhood began to color their ideas in the walls of the city. Graffiti always acts as a small exhaust valve. One way he’s found to create a parallel world where he can express his feelings through art. Graffiti led me to the profession of designer and began to do publicity and decoration work in stores and offices with their graffiti. He created a project together with a friend that is called art without limits that even the factory of cultures of São Paulo supports. Today I am part of some groups known as crews, NPVGANG, FPL (fascinated by letters), SSS, ASL. The painting done in the streets and the creations made for works and installations in galleries depart from the same world that exists within your mind. The first is the artist’s own dialogue with the streets, with each person passing directly and indirectly interacts with the painting, this is the graffiti. The second is the materialization of dreams, ideals, social critiques and surreal drawings that portray the universe created by him. Imagination are the wings that SMALL uses to go to the most entertaining and illusory places that dwells in his mind, is the door of a parallel world created by him to escape his daily life. (From artist’s website.)
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PABLO MALAFAIA Rio de Janeiro Street artist
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BRAZIL
AMARO
BRAZIL
Porto Allegre Street artist and muralist Amaro Abreu has worked in urban art since 2006, painting and participating in events in several cities in Brazil and in countries such as Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Mexico, Germany and France. He also produces wood and canvas panels with mixed techniques and paper with ink and watercolor. He held the solo exhibitions: Habitat, in Porto Alegre, Canoas, Bagé, Nova Prata and Santa Maria and Parallel Life in Galeria Mário Quintana. He was also part of the group exhibitions: “I Make a Part” (Brazil), Conexão Arte Melo (Ururguai) and Somos Todos (Mexico). He has held a graffiti workshop for children for five years at Glicério Alves State College, for the More Education Project. His work has already been published in the book Historias do Trabalho, produced by the City Hall of Porto Alegre; in the magazine Bastion, made by the students of UFRGS; and newspapers Jornal do Comércio, Zero Hora, Correio do Povo and Boca de Rua. He participated in the “Mutirão Luz no Cárcere”, a project in which the inner courtyard of the central prison was painted and curator of the Canoas Multicultural Project, a wall painted by several artists in the city of Canoas. (From artist’s website.)
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SUBTU São Paulo Graffiti and street artist and community organizor
BRAZIL
Revivarte is an independent initiative that seeks to revitalize urban spaces through art. With the support of “Tudo de cor para você,” or “Everything colorful for you,” a project initiated by the art supply company Coral Paints, Revivarte seeks to offer residents a brief respite from their daily struggles and to empower them culturally and politically. “The community is quite small and very close to the Marginal Tiete highway. So it is easy for the policemen to show up unannounced. And they are here every day,” says Subtu, a graffiti artist and creator of the Revivarte project. “The community itself wants us to stay,” Subtu adds. “With our presence the police are taking it easy. They see that people are taking pictures ... Then they approach us differently.” (From article in Huffington Post.)
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VCALVENTO
BRAZIL
São Paulo Street artist and murlalist VCalvento lives and works in São Paulo. His work is plural and motivated by memories of childhood, urban chaos, nature, and Brazilian popular culture. It began in the late 90s, firstly painting on the street and abandoned buildings around São Paulo influenced by the scene of music and graffiti of the time. His technique of painting in spray is quite characteristic, and is what confers to the works their originality and their very own identity. In his current work, the artist explores in portraits a universe created from his childhood memories and the observation of social movements and immigration around the world and in Brazil. (From artist’s website.)
131
SIDNEY HADDAD
BRAZIL
São Paulo Street artist and photographer Sidney Haddad is a graffiti afficionado and former graffiti writer. He is now a graffiti photographer, roaming the streets of São Paulo and creating images of details of the city’s ever-changing walls.
132
THIAGO VAZ
BRAZIL
SĂŁo Paulo Street artist and photographer Among other key issues to if art making, Thiago is particularly sensitive to issues related to cultural identity. But nowadays, the boundaries between local and global culture are becoming more and more elusive, making this one of the thorniest and complex issues of our time. Among the young people who are dedicated today in Sao Paulo, to street interventions, Thiago stands out for its persistent and courageous decision to confront identity delicate issues. It stands out for many qualities that magnify and enhance the natural artistry that him is provided: communication skills, independence, passion, constancy. It is a conscious artist of historical reality in which it is inserted and the huge responsibility implicit in any intervention in public space. Your posture and action are full of dignity and urgency. (Curator review of Thiago Vaz.)
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EDUARDO COBRA
BRAZIL
São Paulo Street artist and muralist Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra utilizes bright colors and bold lines while staying true to a kaleidoscope theme throughout his art. The technique of repeating squares and triangles allows him to bring to life the famous people he depicts in his images. This checkered pattern, filled with different textures, lines, and shading, builds up to Eduardo Kobra’s final masterpiece, a larger than life mural for all to see and marvel at. (From StreetArtBio, by Nichole Figuerola.)
134
GALO
BRAZIL
São Paulo Street artist Born in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo – Brazil, graduated in Architecture and Urbanism, he has been drawing and painting since 1993 and has participated in collective exhibitions since 2002. In June 2009 he began to make urban interventions in the city of São Paulo, in these interventions he uses raw materials such as latex paint or water based enamel paint. In his works he creates a playful universe, his compositions are mostly monochromatic and interact with the dirt of the wall or any other existing intervention. (From I Support Street Art profile.)
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FREDONE FONE
BRAZIL
Goiânia Street artist and theorist Brazilian artist, Fredone Fone grew up in Espirito Santo, helping his father at work as a mason, learning about intimacy of the walls that shape the urban anatomy. Fredone’s knowledge expanded through skateboarding practices and illegal graffiti. He started to write on the streets in 1995 These experiences as a base and inspiration for his art work, Fredone Fone has created the “humanurbano” and maintains his researches about the contemporary relationship of humans in the city. “Humanurbano” is a lifestyle concept that was born from the fusion of the two bodies: the human and the urban. In addition to graffiti and mural painting the artist uses other media such as collage, photography, video art and installations. (From I Support Street Art profile of artist.)
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RENATO REN
BRAZIL
Vitora Street artist Hailing from Vitora, Renato Ren is a graffiti writer, visual artist, cultural producer and MC (Parallel Content). He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts - UFES, and often works with with Fredone Fone in collaborative installations. He is also the author of “Graffiti and Non-Graffiti Tactics,” a theory driven investigative mapping project. “Interested in these classifications Renato Ren would investigate what he considers the primary issues of graffiti beyond ink. From the experience with a more traditional practice emerges in its trajectory the need to discuss other possibilities of urban intervention. In Graffiti and Non Graffiti Tactics , he reflects on the environmental crime of Mariana (MG), the insertion of the individual in the city, the validation of works of art and the very notion of what is public. During about nine months of research, he would walk through various parts of Greater Victoria, defining intervention strategies. This is how it develops Environmental Crime / Vandal Art, Planto Trees, Historic Maintenance / Portuguese Causeway, Heritage Plate, Block Letter (This is graffiti), among others. A crucial indication for the contact with these interventions is to understand that they depart from the understanding of graffiti as a written expression. The word is, for the artist, the essential substance of his works, that emerge in the city in dialogue with the places in which they are inserted and their inhabitants.” (By curator Clara Sampaio.)
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14
ARGENTINA
Like many cities in nearby Brazil, laws and regulations surrounding graffiti in Argentina are fairly relaxed. Beginning later in the 80s, (following the military dictatorship that ended in ‘83,) this has allowed the country’s street art and graffiti scene to flourish in cities all over the country, although many artists are still concentrated Buenos Aires. The financial crash and political upheaval of 2001 led to an explosion of graffiti and street art making political and economic commentary. This legacy can be seen in the work of TNQ-1, a stencil artist well known for his ironic political artwork. The country’s recent economic fatigue, however, has propelled many full-time artists to leave the country to search for more prosperous environments. Some, like Lapiz, have found luck in Germany, and others, like Lukas Aoki, have gone to Texas. Many artists remain, however: those that have jobs as designers, as teachers, and even biologists. Argentina’s graffiti is detailed and colorful, and often inspired by the flora and fauna throughout the country.
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ARGENTINA - COLLABORATORS
143
JUAN KANTOR
144
NYMO
145
ALMIZ
146
VATO CERVATO
La Plata Street artist and painter
Mendoza Street artist
Buenos Aires Street artist and painter
Cรณrdoba Street artist and muralist
139
ARGENTINA - COLLABORATORS
147
VALENTINO TETTAMANTI Buenos Aires Street artist and illustrator
140
148
GAUCHO LADRI
149
LUCAS AKOI
150
ARUMA
Mendoza Street art collective
Buenos Aires + Houston Street artist and muralist
Buenos Aires Street artist and muralist
ARGENTINA - COLLABORATORS
151
PABLO HARYMBAT Buenos Aires Street artist and muralist
152
153
154
TNQ-STENCIL Buenos Aires Street artist
JUAN DICE
Buenos Aires Street artist and muralist
LAPIZ
Buenos Aires + Hamburg Street artist and muralist
141
ARGENTINA - COLLABORATORS
EVER
155 Buenos Aires
Street artist and muralist
156
142
MEDIANERAS
Rosario Street artists and mural collective
JUAN KANTOR
ARGENTINA
La Plata Street artist and painter “My work has been always inspired by nature as a whole, as mystery and beauty. Since my background in biology (formed in 2012 in UNLP, Argentina) I explore the nature aesthetic as a way to evoke emotions and feelings, a way to belive in our own world as a place full of magic. I had the chance to know different countries and cultures travelling with my art, and it works everywhere the same way: connecting sensations, creating common places, bringing new worlds.� (Written by the artist, on Ello profile.)
143
NYMO
ARGENTINA
Mendoza Street artist NYMO is a street artist, illustrator, and designer from Mendoza. In addition to talking with me about his work, he has also offered to guide me around Mendoza and show me more of the city.
144
ALMIZ
ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Street artist and painter Tomรกs Levy Wright is a muralist from Buenos Aires, who often goes into abanoned areas surrounding the city, adding his surreal and magical illustrations to the walls.
145
VATO CERVATO Cรณrdoba Street artist and muralist
146
ARGENTINA
VALENTINO TETTAMENTI
ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Street artist and illustrator Valentino was born in 1986, and he does not remember when he didn’t like to draw. Some time ago he completed a Degree in Printmaking and Printed Art at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the UNLP. For several years now, he has divided his time to work as an illustrator and freelance designer, and developing his own projects. (From profile on DGCV.) Valentino has told me that he does not spend as much time painting in the streets as he used to, but he knows his way around town, and knows a lot of people who do around the city.
147
GAUCHO LADRI
ARGENTINA
Mendoza Street art collective Gaucholadri is a street art collective by artists and designers Marcos Zerene (formatbrain) and Federico Calandria (fede©). The project was inspired by a vision they had when they travelled to Chile for live painting, whilst watching “Hatchiko, A Dog`s Tale” on the bus they took. They had an epileptic attack which lead them to a state of deep trance where they shared a vision that would effect them forever: they transported to Tokyo and saw two gauchos dancing Malambo in a transparent cube. Twirling his boleadoras filled with fluorescent paint. Inextricable images that expressed the secrets of the universe were forming on the walls. When the Japanese applauded them they woke up startled. They understood that they had a life mission: go to Japan and transform the world through magic. (From artists’ website.)
148
LUCAS AKOI
ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Street artist and muralist
149
ARUMA
ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Street artist and muralist Aruma is a painter, designer, and potter based out of Buenos Aires. His ornamnetal abstractions and whimsicle designs are often inspired by his travels.
150
PABLO HARYMBAT
ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Street artist and muralist Pablo Harymbat (born 1977) is an Argentine artist based in Buenos Aires. He works on various formats such as mural, ceramic, sculpture, drawing and video animation. He started painting, both graffiti and on canvas, back in the ‘90s at the age of 14. His firsts large-scale public murals appeared in 2004 as iconic psicodelic compositions, made usually with only three colours wich he signed for many years as “Gualicho”. Never afraid of change, he put down this nickname and started using his real name. The constant search for originality and innovation led him into a new exploration of geometry from the use of an intuitive tool crafted by himself. His recent works are hand made stylized tags made of several extruded colours. He has painted and made exhibitions on several cities around the globe. (From artist’s website.)
151
TNQ-1
ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Graffiti and street artist TNQ-1 works primarily with stencils, which are often politically motivated and highly creative. “I do stencil art in Argentina and all over the wold about 9 years. I paint in Uruguay, Brasil, England, France, Spain and Italy. I studied design in the university and Beaux Arts. This year I worked a lot with #Dante2018, a move on twitter in which we read the Divine Comedy and I did a drawing or stencil per day� (Written in email from artist.)
152
JUAN DICE
ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Street artist Juan Dice is a painter, muralist, illustrator, and recording artist from Buenos Aires. His pieces are often dense and illustrative, full of forms that range between the natural and the abstract.
153
LAPIZ
ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires + Hamburg, Germany Street artist and muralist Lapiz is a self-taught artist who started painting anonymously in the streets of Dunedin (New Zealand) shortly after moving there from South Africa where he had been working in HIV research. The sharp contrast in living conditions, social issues and the resulting cultural shock was vented by painting socio-critical wheatpastes around town. Later, while living in Buenos Aires (Argentina) the close contact to other street artists inspired him to paint huge thought-provoking stencils. The many abandoned buildings and public spaces together with the openness of the people are an Eldorado for every Street Artist. Here, he adapted the name Lapiz. It is derived from the Spanish word for ‘pencil’ and refers to the idea of writing a story on the wall that invites people to reflect on current issues. Recently, he has arrived in Europe and currently lives in Germany, which allowed him to visit some noteworthy festivals such as the Meeting of Styles, the iBUG, the Upfest and the STROKE art fair. (From artist’s website.) He is also putting me in contact with more Argentine artists that are abroad, as well as art festival organizors around Europe, especially in Georgia.
154
EVER
ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires Street artist and muralist Best known for his large-scale portraits on walls, Nicolás Romero Escalada aka Ever is an Argentinean street artist born in Buenos Aires in 1985. He began as a letter-based graffiti writer on the streets of his hometown in the 1990’s. Additionally, he turned towards portraits and developed a style that is more typical for paintings found in fine art galleries. A five-month long study trip to Paris helped him to develop his own signature style as he spent hours in such art spaces like the Musée d’Orsay looking at works by Vincent van Gogh, Gustav Klimt, Francis Bacon and other widely recognized artists. He is also inspired by Mexican muralists, especially the way their art reflects the people and their social consciousness. “Before 2009, I was apolitical. But in 2009, I lived in Paris, and I began to think of art as the means to inspire societal change. The revolution must start here — on the walls”.
155
MEDIANERAS
ARGENTINA
Rosario Street artists and mural collective MEDIANERAS, or Side Walls, it is formed by two Argentine women street artists from the city of Rosario, Vanesa Galdeano (Musivaria) and Anali Chanquia (Artista Busca Pared). Unlike the walls, which are only responsable for separating the spaces, the side walls are those shared between neighbors. This concept interests us because we believe that public art, besides making cities more beautiful, claims the idea of a shared place – of all individuals -. We want to change the way we usually perceive spaces, our intention is to alter the urban landscape of the street. (From artists’ website.)
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