The junction of the words ‘pixo’ + ação (action in portuguese) means more to some people than just the act of writing your name in ‘pixo’ letters somewhere !
For some guys, like the 30 pixadores that took over the gallery Choque Cultural in Sao Paulo on Sept. 6th, it means the pure act of free speech ally to vandalism (which is the main foundation of the so called ‘art’ of pixação), what led them to a non violent act of maniphest against the vulgarization, institutiotinalization and ‘domestication’ of the street culture. So they organized an ‘attack’ to one of the icons that suposebly represent all that.
Translation of the ‘invitation’ made by the ‘pixadores’ :
“Atack Part 2 (( On the way to Revolution )) We’ll invade a ‘shitty’ art gallery ((Choque Cultural )). According to its ideology, it takes cover of underground artists so the place is ‘ours’. We declare total protest. (-place of meeting-) Rescue the phrases. Heil to the ‘pixação’! Art as crime. Crime as art. All for the pixação movement. “
I asked one of the ‘pixadores’ who participated on the action, what went on there and he told me that:
” In my view the graffiti has a function, a social cause…and none of the artists (that I know about) does it with that purpose. A graffiti with no critics and without any ideology, besides the artists of that gallery were never really from the streets ! The gallery had only been presenting something parnassian and ‘elitized’…beautiful to the eyes of everyone…something that don´t suit our reality, at least mine. When I´m walking I see ‘favelas’ and misery, exploration and opression by politics and religion !And who, in an underdeveloped country, has condition to buy any of those paintings ?! It was the ‘favela’ protesting against the social exclusion ! ”
” If you don´t come to the favela, the favela comes to you! ”
I got these photos from the photographer CHOQUE PHOTOS himself, who was envolved in the action and support the cause of it, he had his previous flickr account deactivated by the administration, which is shame because, besides these photos, there was some awesome photos of ‘pixação’, but they´ll be published in a near future on his book about the act and culture of pixo.
On the gallery´s blog they published a post about it saying that “the gallery was invaded and depradated, several artworks were damaged. The authors published images of the action and brag of the agression in websites over the internet. There was a convocation to violence, to propagation of hate and to coward intolarance. This organized self-promotion is an explicit form of truculent authoritarism disguised as protest.”
And on the same post there´s a text from the couple that runs the website Wooster Collective, about the subject. Check it here.
As for the gallery, it´s a place where you can find some good art, as I posted an exhibition there with Tim Biskup, Shepard Fairey, Jeff Soto; and also oppened up the space and the eyes of other galleries, in other parts of the world, for brazilian artists who has a graffiti history.
The fact is that only one painting from Speto was damaged, all the other paintings that were ‘pixadas’ had a glass over it so it should be fine, and they´ve already painted over it.
It´s complicated for me to take parts on this particular case, me being a person who goes to exhibitions, like art galleries that opens their space and ‘eyes’ for talented artists from the streets, who support the social causes that the street culture stands for, but I believe in EVOLUTION as the way to REVOLUTION, and not the other way around !
” The philosophy of a century is the good common sense of the next ! “
I setup and ran WoodensShadow in an abandoned warehouse in downtown Richmond and it was the site of epic parties and also a tetanus ridden tinderbox that at any one night could of wiped out the entire Melbourne art scene in a fiery ball of death. Letterheads was an exhibition of remixed letters of the alphabet by Australian artists met with Chairman Mao and Flying Lotus thanks to RBMA.
