An Interview with a "Street Artist" and a Tour of Vila Madalena

“A tall woman walks along the sidewalk of a busy downtown street; her backpack of supplies bouncing steadily in pace with her long strides.  Her pace speaks of purpose and frustration. The woman’s emerald eyes attentively scan the walls of buildings and staircases seeking out what she desires most.  She is an artist; an artist on a mission to find herself a canvas. 

"Concrete Heart"
photo provided by "Magrela" 

It is necessary that the canvas is fitting for her style of art; something ignored and ordinary. She craves to transform something dirty and unkempt into an item of beauty and vibrance.  Her lengthy black hair whips around her head as buses reeking of diesel and belching black smog blow by.  She needs an outlet, a release.

For over an hour she marches past three metro stops until she finally finds her canvas.  The wall is ugly and neglected.  The wall is perfect.  Its cracked and chipped surface begs the woman to be made into something to see. 

The artist feels angry and frustrated at the city.  It is not made for walking, trees or subjects of splendor.  She sets down her bag and takes out her brushes; making sure to shake each one thoroughly.  The can’s little metal ball rattles the paint and she begins to depict what she feels; a woman with a heart of concrete.  With every stroke she discharges her being into the image, controlling the chaos as she creates it.

When she is done she steps back feeling relieved, refreshed and renewed.  Not many people will walk by the painting.  But, if even one person sees the beauty in it, it is all worth it.” 

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So I had an interview with a street artist the other day.  I would say it went really well.  The perils of public transportation were working against me that day and despite being 20 minutes late to the interview, Magrela was very receptive and understanding. 

Maggie and Pericles.

Maggie, known by many as Magrela taken from the word magra which means thin, is a very down to earth person and the first “street artist” to respond to my requests for an interview.  Along with my roommate/translator Pericles, we met her at the Vila Madalena metro stop and proceeded to an empty, quaint café in the area.  

As the sun played peek-a-boo with the clouds, occasionally letting in little gasps of light, Maggie told me about her experiences and history with street art.  After studying finance for three years she decided to stop her schooling in 2007 and pick up street art as well as pursue other forms of art.  She owns her own clothing brand that features her unique art style as well as sings and writes poetry.  She has been drawing since she was a child and does not work with traditional canvas.  The streets are her canvas.

With the help of Pericles, we talked about street art for a little over 30 minutes.  We discussed about how the art allows her to express her emotions and the dangers, or lack thereof, of being approached by the police. 

“Oh! But officer, I did not know I could not paint here,” she says. 

When we finished our coffees she took us on a tour around the Vila Madalena neighborhood; a hip and trendy neighborhood of Sao Paulo.  Its steep hills and narrow streets occasionally allow for glimpses of the sprawling metropolis below and seemingly far off that is Sao Paulo.  Most streets are lined with artisan workshops, galleries and bars.  The bars look like a good time so I made sure to mark the location down of a few. 

A view from Vila Madalena

Walls and staircases are coated in street art.  Many resemble a Bohemian style of sorts; some are vibrant and abstract while others are portraits of famous figures and musicians. Maggie pointed out a wall that had the Ramones and medicine pills tagged all over it (I suppose they could have been other pills…).  To whoever can remember it, I imagine that the area can be reminiscent of New York City’s Greenwich Village in the 1960s.

Maggie with one of her pieces.

She pointed out some of her paintings she had done and described the different aspects of them.  One had crabs in it; painted for the area of the neighborhood the art was in called mangue (Mangrove).  Another was a collaboration piece done with three other artists when she first began tagging up walls and staircases.  A final piece she showed us was of a woman with a fish and a bull over a small town.  She enlightened us to the meaning. In short, the bull represents a man and the woman is nurturing him with the fish.  I do not think bulls eat fish but, I get the meaning and I believe the art has a simplistic exquisiteness to it; if such a thing exists.

Maggie, a Sao Paulo native, informed us about what influences her and described her unique style to us.  How she feels when she paints and the evolution of the woman she continuously adds to new areas of the city.  What I found interesting was that she told us she does not feel the need to practice “street art” when she is not in Sao Paulo.  That the problems, people, cars and industry pushes her to do what she does in her home city. 

Maggie's art on a wall in Vila Madalena

There is much more to say about our morning together but, I am working on a much larger article about the “Street Art in Sao Paulo.”  I am currently discussing the subject with an art museum curator in the city and I have another interview with a street artist/professor this coming Sunday.  So I will leave this post as it is; I do not want to give away everything just yet. 

If you are interested in some of Maggie’s art, here is her Flickr page.  Check it out and send her some love. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/magritcha/