It’s been an interesting/hectic start to the new year, including house fires, drawn guns, lazy police, and hail storms. Thankfully we’re all alright and we’ll be back in the next few days with details and new works.
“When written in Chinese the word “crisis” is composed of two characters - one represents danger and the other represents opportunity.” ~John F. Kennedy
2008 is about to come down on us like a ton of bricks, so before that happens we wanted to show you a few of the last pieces of the 2007 leg of the South Central Tour.
Ripo: You never know, those who are Unfamous may one day become…
Above: Sundays are always fundays to paint or duck out of the heat and go swimming. Passing by the pool I wanted to jump in but I needed a Swim/Suit instead of my paint overalls. I had to improvise so I painted the word play instead.
Apparently Argentines are experts in the French car, Deux Chevaux. This was one of three that were being worked on at the same time on the same block.
Above: It depends on how you measure success. I had a fun time painting this word play. It might take a while to read it but its all there.
Ripo: Pigeons always seem to congregate in run down places…
Old school
Above and Ripo also got down on a few more major paintings during these past few days, specifically taking part in a BIG paint session with roughly 30 artists at a power plant, but we’ll save those pics for next year…
For now, Happy New Year! and may 2008 be creative, inspirational, and an opportunity for us all to meet new people and keep trying to figure out what the hell each of us are doing on this tiny rock.
Obviously it’s been the holiday season and even the tireless need to rest sometimes. So after arriving here in Buenos Aires, Argentina Ripo, Above, and I took our time getting to know this enormous city. A huge change after a tiny capital like Asuncion, Buenos Aires and its surrounding area has nearly 12 million people inhabiting it.
We quickly met up with some great people from a number of artist collectives around town and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the event they organized, the third edition of the Expression Session. Being an outdoor festival we took the opportunity to enjoy the amazing weather and bask in one of the most alive, creative, and friendly atmospheres we’ve seen in awhile.The most amazing part of the day was seeing the variety of work that people were doing at the event. While the event was mostly taken over by bubbly characters and intricate stencils there were others who were printing shirts, djing, making sculptures, doing video projections, and the coolest thing we saw were the paper hot air balloons that people were setting off.
After enjoying an amazing holiday meal at a friend’s house the artists got back to painting.
Above: Passing the corner, happen to see this nice orange wall….the style still needs work but fuck it, I tried my best!
Ripo: Summer colors for a summer paint session. Not finished yet…
Above: Still trying to perfect this style.. thus for the picture I cut out all the other bullshit. Enjoy the cutbacks and colors of this piece.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, ready to charge 2008 full speed ahead!
Asuncion was an interesting city although very small and quiet. If we can say anything about it it’s that it would love to have more people passing through and influencing the scene there. We were hosted amazingly and helped out by many. Biggest thanks go to Ethos, Iron Lobo Jr. (what a name) and Curuvica, Negib, Laura, Ricky, Kast, and all others who we got to meet, hang out with, and who showed us their city.
More handpainted textual beauty by an anonymous artist.
Above: HOME/LESS
NICE/VIEW (Above), Come Over (Ripo), Face (Ethos)
Now off to Buenos Aires! This Saturday December 22nd the artists will be participating in an event in the Argentinean Capital. Painting with some great people and getting to know a new city.
Above, Ripo, and Ethos were invited to Asuncion, Paraguay to paint two historical trains as well as the roof of a gallery in the center of the city. The alternative motive for the artists to come to the city was to bring some new influence and kick start a city where little to no artwork is seen in the streets and nearly no artists have traveled through here before.
ABOVE: OFF/TRAK. Its a Word/Play with a literal significance as the historical train has been set OFF/TRAK. The Word/Play is also a metaphor for the location and the street scene here in Asuncion as it is certainly OFF/TRAK for most travelers and artists.
RIPO: ILEGIBLE (Spanish for ILLEGIBLE) Written clearly across a historical train car that has since been turned into a library. During the dictatorship here people were discouraged from reading. Nowadays things are different and what was once ILEGIBLE is no longer.
Although initally Above and Ripo, along with Ethos from Brasil, were invited to paint two whole historical trains in the center of the capital their work quickly began to spread across the entire city.
Upon our arrival we noticed that there was hardly any graffiti in the city, and certainly none from any international artists. But the politicians have this city bombed. The elections are in full swing here and the walls show the evidence with endless political posters, painted names, and tags (that’s right, tags by politicans!).
You can’t escape…
The signs in this city are also an incredible source of inspiration. Nearly all are hand painted and unique.
I scream, you scream, Above screams for ice cream.
Before hitting the trains the artists hit the streets…
Ethos, Ripo, Above Grapixo style
Above: Too many the night before.
Ripo & Ethos: Porque!?
The artists are still currently painting on the trains and across the city. More to come very soon.
Finishing up in Sao Paulo was no small task. Over the three weeks we were there I’ve accompanied the artists while painting numerous small and large works across vast stretches of the city and together we’ve met some amazing people who we want to thank extensively. 2501, the place to sleep was much appreciated, thanks again for everything. Big thank you to Highgraff, Prozac, Ciro, Mea, Alex Orion, Jey and Sirlene, Marcelo and Carina, Ricardo, Cris (and the twins) and everybody else we were lucky enough to meet, paint with, or just met along the way.
Ripo: Untitled
Above: “Obrigado”
Ripo: Bleeding color, Muito Vivo (Really Alive).
Ripo: Muito Amor
Above: Bras Station is a “Hot/Line” of transitory situations. Bus lines, Train lines, and several metro lines all connect here which makes this piece fit.
Ripo: Keep watch, make your move, and get the hell out of there…
Above: trying to play with the drain pipe as the focal and center point for this piece. Lots of fun curves color and lines.
We’ve just arrived and have settled in Asuncion, Paraguay, a big change to a small city. Here the artists will be joining forces with the artist Ethos from Brasil.
After nearly a week in Sampa (Sao Paulo) we’ve already had the pleasure of meeting both the Military Police and the Local Police on two separate occasions while painting and to be honest (and lucky) it was a pleasure. In both situations the police arrived, did what they needed to do as far as searching and asking what we were doing there, then looked at what we were doing and decided they had better things to worry about.With an atmosphere and mentality like this one, you can see why this city is so full of large, colorful, and stylish art in the streets. It seems that if you’re doing something colorful and artistic, and appeals to the cops aesthetic tastes, you can get away with a lot.
Above: Brasilian Tiger Fighting
Ripo: Coming Soon in Crackolandia, Sao Paulo
Above: Burn/Out
Ripo: Police went on a Power trip after this one and lined us up on the wall. Luckily they seemed to enjoy our work.
Above: Chop/Shop 
Ripo style
We’ve arrived in Sao Paulo aka by locals as Babylon, and with good reason. This is the largest city in the world south of the Equator! The urban sprawl spreads in every direction as far as the eye can see.
Brasil, and Sao Paulo specifically, as many local inform us has what may be the oldest form of graffiti, dating back to the late 60’s, known as Pixação. Whether or not it this is true our eyes don’t lie and we can see that this city is covered with pixação. There are pieces done with latex, spraypaint, crayons, chalk, banana peels, pretty much anything people can get their hands on and wherever they can get up.
The visual stimulation in this city is overpowering and Ripo and Above hit the ground running and trust me it was tough for me to keep up with them.
Ripo and Above side by side
Above: Brasilian inspired patterns
Ripo: Feeling Alive due to the sunshine, greenery, and the stinky bathroom door that banged open while in the middle of painting this piece.
Above: Quik/Stop
Ripo: Quick road side pigeon dropping in.
Thanksgiving is coming up and myself and the artists have lots to be thankful for. We had a great time in Rio and would like to give a big thank you to Tika, 2501, Charlotte, Lilian, and everybody else we got to meet in Rio de Janeiro. While the Above and Ripo didn’t get to paint as much as planned due to weather difficulties there are still a few more surprises below…
Ripo: The disparity between rich and poor in Brasil is astounding and Rio de Janeiro is one of the most shocking examples of this. You can see numerous favelas (poor “slums”) nestled in between some of Rio’s richest neighborhoods. This “Home” is located right next to a fancy hotel on the beach. It only lasted 2 days until the wall was buffed, sanded, and basically destroyed. Hitting too close to “Home”?
Above: It was 45 degrees in Rio…
Above: What goes up must come down or at least walk around
Despite the rainy weather some of us did slip in some time to check out the sites. The new 8th Wonder of the World, Christo, was certainly impressive.
Thank you again to all and see you in Sao Paulo!
