Today Banksy put up on his Instagram the message, “Today’s art has been cancelled due to policy activity.” A commenter on Banksy’s Instagram wrote, “Friend at 79th precinct said they nabbed banksy and 2 helpers in the act this morning around 6:00 a.m. 🙁 They have them on video at another location too.” As reported by the NY Post and other outlets over the last week, the NYPD has been “on the hunt” for Banksy. [Update: Banksy has NOT been arrested, as confirmed by NYPD in a phone call with Gothamist’s Jen Carlson]
This all just reminded us of the fact that in Brazil, street art is LEGAL. In fact, the legalization of graffiti has spurred a real renaissance for street art in cities like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo where there is a strong distinction made between tagging, known as pichação, and grafite, a street art style distinctive to Brazil.
Art schools have created curriculum dedicated to street art, there was a Biennale of Graffiti Fine Art in São Paulo in 2010, and street art has become a key tool to community building in both favelas and other communities in Rio de Janeiro. Organizations such as Favela Painting are creating self-sustaining art organizations to paint entire neighborhoods, and now an entire hillside. Most importantly perhaps, the relationship between street artists and building owners has changed significantly, to the extent that owners often commission artists for pieces, while artists ask permission from owners to paint their buildings.
In Rio de Janeiro, the street art is ubiquitous. It exists in all corners of the city from the favela to upper class neighborhoods, from residential to institutional. It is bold in scale and aesthetics, and is anything but graffiti. The integration between street art and the urban fabric in all types of areas in Rio-residential, institutional, infrastructural, touristic-and across all socioeconomic neighborhoods is clear when one walks the streets. This previous article explores the hierarchy of permission between building owner and artist, how community is being developed in Rio through street art by artists, the city and non-profits, and how the urban fabric of Rio has contributed to the flourishing street art scene.
Michelle is the founder of Untapped New York and the author of The Art Spy (HarperOne, forthcoming) Secret Brooklyn, Secret New York Hidden Bars & Restaurants, and Broadway. michelleyoungwriter.com
