Zezão, one of my favorite Brazilian street artists and one of the artists who I think best embodies the ethos of street art, was detained on Tuesday by police for painting in São Paulo. He was painting a spot that he has painted multiple times before, but he did not have permission. There isn’t much info about what happened so far, but this news article has some info. Also, Lost Art seems to be the most reliable source of news on the detainment with updates on their Twitter. According to Lost Art, Zezão “was detained while painting in a crack infested area.” Lost Art also says that “he was charged with vandalism & may face legal costs.”
Let’s hope that the police get their heads on straight and realize what a mistake they have made. Zezão not a criminal but an artist trying to brighten up the world and draw attention to the things that many of us in society would rather avoid thinking about.
Photo by Jullezs