The graffiti of Rio de Janeiro
by Julian Gratton
It’s rubbish when it rains on holiday. There are two good things, though, about the little weather blip on my holiday. One is that it is giving my balding head a break from the evil rays of the sun… and enabling it to stop looking like it is radioactive… and the second is to take a little time out and share with you one of the amazing things about this place. That thing being the street art that seems to be everywhere you turn in this fabulous country.
One of the things I love about going on holiday, is the moment when I start getting the desire to leave the beach and my trashy novels and grab my camera and just go exploring. This happened yesterday. The weather had become noticeably cooler… no longer were we in the energy-sapping heat of the low 90s… so I took the chance to go walk the streets of central Rio.
The city here has a real energy and buzz about it. Until now the busiest city I had ever been to I guess was London. But not even Oxford Street at the height of Christmas shopping compares to the hustle and bustle of central Rio. And amongst the colourful characters round every corner and the stunning Portugese influenced architecture is the quite stunning graffiti art.
I have to plead my ignorance here. Until I got to this place I had no idea that Rio was where we kept the world’s best street art. No where in my Lonely Planet Guide book did it say ‘Prepare yourself to be absolutely gobsmacked by the sheer inventiveness and artisitic expertise of Brazil’s graffiti street artists’. In a way I am kind of glad that it didn’t. As now that I have discovered these works of art… I’m enjoying them surprising me with every walk I take.
The graffiti you see in this posting is just what I have seen in the one and a bit days that I have been walking around. A quick search on Google images reveals so much more… but I’m not going to look at the search results it has for me… I’m gonna get out there and discover some more for myself. Especially as the more I do, the more I see street art used to portray political, religious and environmental issues… which makes a change from Manchester, where all you usually see is either abuse or that ‘Stu loves Kaz’!
Until you can get yourself here, I strongly advise you to take a look on Google at Rio’s graffiti… like me, I’m sure you’ll be amazed at what you see.
Right… back to the holiday!
Graffiti is used to highlight the plight of the rainforests on the side of a building in central Rio.
Tags: Art, Art Direction, Brazil, Creative Art, creative director, Design, Environmental Advertising, Environmental Art, Graffiti, Grafitti Artist, Holiday, Manchester Advertising Agency, Manchester Design Agency, Political Advertising, Political Art, Religious Advertising, Religious Art, Rio de Janeiro, Street Advertising, Street Art
