LISBON GRAFFITI ART

HAPPENINGText: Carlos Matias

Graffiti is gaining its space every time the city breaths, this code is spreading…

“Espaco Interpress” was the place for this graffiti work in progress, right in the heart of Lisbon, Bairro Alto. The place couldn’t be better. An old graphical warehouse, involved by an industrial atmosphere. The illumination, metal platforms, hooks suspended by chains, and the smell of graphic candy’s everywhere.

All around, feelings, thoughts and visions blown up graphically into the walls of this old warehouse. Graphics displayed traditionally like in a normal contemporary exposition, but without the limits of a frame, spreading from the canvas through out the walls, creating an overwhelming dynamic piece of art.

A collective of urban artists (Hium, Hibashira, Ram, Mar, Klit, Time, Vhils, decided to join their strength to create this visual performance in Portugal, aware of the Portuguese artistic panorama and knowing what surrounded them in terms of art, they decided to approach the public by showing their street art work, Graffiti.

Talking with Ram, one the artists: “This Exposition took place essentially to show some of the best Graffiti artists in Portugal, respecting all other urban artists that weren’t part of this project and whose work is also respected by us. Here we tried to take it as far as we could. The will to create, to grow, is very strong and the aspirations are high, we want all the visitors to feel the strength of the pieces, canvas, installations and sculptures that populate this space. We ask the visitors to embark on this trip and appreciate all these interventions. We also have conscience that we did our best and that we reached our primary goals.”

The Exposition premiered last month (March 18th) and is due to end April 19th. Martha Cooper, famous photographer (first to register in photographs the graffiti movement), was a special presence in the last day, with the presentation of her book “Hip Hop Files”.

Visual Street Performance
Date: March 18th – April 19th, 2005
Place: Bairro Alto
Address: N67 Rua Luz Soriano, Espaco Interpress
vsperformance@gmail.com

Text: Carlos Matias
Photos: Carlos Matias

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