Street Art + Jazz Sinfônica

When people ask me about São Paulo, I usually reply saying that it is a “more than it meets the eye” city. Even though the city center offers its own architectural beauty, I wouldn’t call it a reference for tourists. However, when it comes to the cultural offering, or having initiatives for leisure time, São Paulo truly is an amazing city, which not only provides you with a wide variety of choices, but also choices for whatever time of the day you chose. This past weekend I took Saturday’s afternoon (again) to walk around the city center and visit a new Street Art exhibition, and Sunday morning to visit, for the first time, the magnificent “Sala São Paulo” and enjoy a concert from the Jazz Sinfônica orchestra of São Paulo.

Street Art - Um Panorama Urbano

Contrary to what I expected, the Street Art exhibition is not by itself a reason to go to the Centro Cultural. However, if you’re in the zone and you have 15/20 minutes to spend, it still is worth seeing. Even though it advertises more than 5 artists in the flyer, you hardly get to see more than 2 works from each of them. 

For me, Banksy and Vhils (hometown street artist from Portugal) were clearly the most appealing names, but taking into account the high hopes I had, I got a bit disappointed. I was kind of expecting something like a small tour throughout the past years of each of the artists but instead I only got a very small flavour and generic presentation over what they have been doing in the Street Art scene. I was particularly drawn into the the works from Jef Aerosol, a French pioneer from the eighties who is known for his portraits of celebrities and, as always, the painting from Nunca, one of the most stylish graffiti artists in Brazil. Also from Portugal we had “Mais Menos” with a pretty strong political and critical stand in the works displayed.

 

 

 

The entrance is free, and it will take you no more than 20 minutes to go through the entire exhibition, so if you’re close to Praça da Sé go check it out.

Jazz Sinfônica – Concertos Matinais

Knowing that I like classical music and jazz, early in the week my girlfriend asked me if I was up to a concert Sunday morning, in “Sala São Paulo” from the Jazz Sinfônica Orchestra. Immediate question - “how much will it cost us?” -  and immediate answer - “It’s free, but limited entrance”. Allowing the general public to visit one of the best concert halls (if not the best) in the Latin America, and giving them the chance to experience a truly unique concert from a great orchestra without having to spend a single coin, is something worth valuing, so here goes my big up for whoever was the responsible for this initiative.

The concert hall by itself is worth the visit. The way is mixes the classical and historical feeling with some more modern elements in its architecture and design is simply remarkable. It is not in vain that the “Sala São Paulo” always comes as a top 3 must-see locations in any São Paulo tourist guide.

The show lasts a little bit more than an hour and it presents several Brazilian composers. It was the first time I saw an orchestra of this type, and I loved it. I’ve been to some classical music concerts, but adding the drums and some other jazzy essential elements gave it a whole new flavor. The The maestro explained and contextualized each of the seven “acts” that were played, and was able to make a very good connection with the public from the beginning until the end.
In the end, the concert earned a huge standing ovation, and for sure I will dig more about this Jazz Sinfônica orchestra and its endeavors.

A Invasão (1998)

I remember growing up in 90’s and how I fell in love with Graffiti. I can remember the exact walls and pieces in Almada that made me turn my head and look through the window every time I was passing by in the back sit of my parents’ car. The graffiti history of my city is beautiful and I’m glad I grew up looking at walls from ISER, KANO, DARKO, TAPE, RYE, CRIME, TROL, or TIME, just to name a few. So, in 1999/2000, by the time I started going out with my boys and watch them do their own sketches on the wall, I knew the history of my city and I had learnt to love it.

When I moved to São Paulo I was presented to what you call “Pixação”, which is part of the Brazilian graffiti culture and is something quite unique in the world. I like the idea and the whole concept behind it, but that truly isn’t the graffiti I love. Since I came here, I’ve always wanted to know a bit more of the history of the other part of the Brazilian graffiti culture – trains bombing (which you don’t see that much around) and most of all, street bombing. So, last month, it was with great pleasure that I saw the digital magazine Estoro presenting one of the first and most classic graffiti movies in the Brazilian scene released in 1998 – A Invasão. More than the pieces that it shows, which really have the old school feeling and show you how much graffiti evolved in Brazil, I loved the fact that it also showed other elements of the Brazilian hip hop culture.

If you think that OsGemeos were always the fine artists that are invited to paint at Tate Modern Museum and have exhibitions all around the world, you got to take a look at this movie. Hidden faces and fat big silvers all over the street, love it! Great piece of Brazilian graffiti history.

Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/82521105
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gJ-eK_LGKI

Sticking Madness - Featuring my friend Polen