Ranging in age from early teens to mid 30′s, Sao Paulo’s controversial pichadores meet weekly to exchange blackbooks, writings and the latest info. This past Thursday, they met at their regular meeting place in the center of town that they refer to as “The Point.” They seem to represent a range of educational levels and economic backgrounds.  And unlike most NYC writers, they were eager to be photographed.

Photo by Lois Stavsky

Photo by Lois Stavsky

Photo by Sara Mozeson

One of the few females present; photo by Sara Mozeson

Photo by Sara Mozeson

A different kind of street art emerges in São Paulo’s economically disadvantaged neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city — some of which I visited yesterday. It is mostly the writings of the pichadores who practice São Paulo’s distinct tagging style, along with graffiti that reminds me of some of the walls I’ve seen in the South Bronx. Here’s a sampling:

 photos by Lois Stavsky

I arrived in Sao Paulo yesterday, and within an hour of exploring  the nearby streets from my base here in the center of town, I came upon dozens of alluring, diverse images.  Here are a few:

 Many more to come!   (I’ve identified the artists whose work I recognize; info on the others to come).

photos by Lois Stavsky

Some news from the street artists of Brazil:

Last Sunday one of the biggest avenues of São Paulo, Av. 23 de Maio, received the biggest graffiti and street art attack ever. All the action was illegal and was done by 150 artists during the day on 1km of a grey wall. The protest is against the government buff of the Law “CITY CLEAN”. There were artists from all ages and styles, because the most important thing was to paint all of the avenue. You can see amazing graffiti works (character and letters) and works made by artists that were doing their first work. The variety of styles includes pixação, stencils and much more. The action was incredible and the cops arrived there and didn’t know what to do, so they only took 9 graffiti artist (only 3 police cars) to the police department to try to understand what it was that. The authority understood that was an art-manifestation, so the artists could go home. The government is now painting the wall with grey paint as they usually do every week.

Photos by JuGranjeia: