Urban Art Association

Suben and Javelin Block presents IN THE NAME OF PIXO, by cyberkid on Jun 26, 2018 17:12:35 GMT 1,

IN THE NAME OF PIXO
13th - 22nd July, Birmingham

Just as Carnival, Copacabana or football are synonyms for Brazil for the wider audience, people interested in urban life and especially urban culture will likely think of buildings covered in peculiar scribblings when thinking of the largest country in South America. These prison tattoo-like visuals on the skin of the Brazilian urban surface are called ‘pixação’, and while they are seemingly similar to tagging or graffiti, they are actually representing their own genre. Seen mostly through metropolises of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, this distinctive street writing began in the 1940s and 50s as political statements written in tar and was reborn in the 90s when typography of heavy metal record covers started influencing the styles.

With this in mind, the birthplace of heavy metal and the cradle of the aesthetic of the lettering of pixação seemed like the perfect setting for the European debut show of Cripta Djan, the internationally renowned Brazilian pixador from São Paulo. After introducing pixação culture in Paris and Berlin, and filming a feature-length film about it in 2012, Djan will be presenting his solo show “In The Name of Pixo” from 13th - 22nd July in Birmingham. The exhibition is produced in close collaboration between Suben Art Management and Javelin Block.

The artworks will be presented in the Tramshed, a former rolling mill located in the centre of Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter conservation area, and bring an insight of this unique form of social protest from São Paulo. The exhibition will consist of 25 paintings of words and slogans reflecting on social injustice, usually painted by self-taught and often economically-marginalized people. The artist will exhibit two of his series - “Peripheral Manifesto” and “Code of Conduct”, however, the show will also provide an immediate introduction to the rich history and socio-cultural significance of pixaçao culture itself through selection of authentic photographs, legal documents from artist's lawsuits, timelines, and projections of pixação-related films. A limited edition print of one of the artworks will also be released and available to purchase at the exhibition.

The series ''Peripheral Manifesto'' carries the transcription of paragraphs of the manifesto titled ''The Mute Cry of the Invisibles''. In this manifesto, the pixaçao is a cry that spreads through the streets of a great Brazilian metropolis, a mute cry of a whole class of people from the peripheries that are invisible to society. Using paint and the urban landscape as their canvas, these young people have created a way of escaping the social invisibility in which they live.

The series ''Code of Conduct'' introduces works constructed with words representing the code of conduct of streets lived by the pixadores. A real complex culture that has its own signs, its rules of honour, its techniques, its way of speaking, and uses an unfamiliar vocabulary for those who do not belong to that world.

More information on Cripta Djan can be found at www.criptadjan.com
To request the artworks preview catalogue please write us.

LOCATION
The Tramshed
30 Kenyon Street
Birmingham, B18 6AR
United Kingdom

OPENING HOURS
Friday 13th - 5:30pm to 9:30pm
Saturday 14th to Saturday 21st -12pm to 8pm
Sunday 22nd - 12pm to 3pm

IN THE NAME OF PIXO
13th - 22nd July, Birmingham

Just as Carnival, Copacabana or football are synonyms for Brazil for the wider audience, people interested in urban life and especially urban culture will likely think of buildings covered in peculiar scribblings when thinking of the largest country in South America. These prison tattoo-like visuals on the skin of the Brazilian urban surface are called ‘pixação’, and while they are seemingly similar to tagging or graffiti, they are actually representing their own genre. Seen mostly through metropolises of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, this distinctive street writing began in the 1940s and 50s as political statements written in tar and was reborn in the 90s when typography of heavy metal record covers started influencing the styles.

With this in mind, the birthplace of heavy metal and the cradle of the aesthetic of the lettering of pixação seemed like the perfect setting for the European debut show of Cripta Djan, the internationally renowned Brazilian pixador from São Paulo. After introducing pixação culture in Paris and Berlin, and filming a feature-length film about it in 2012, Djan will be presenting his solo show “In The Name of Pixo” from 13th - 22nd July in Birmingham. The exhibition is produced in close collaboration between Suben Art Management and Javelin Block.

The artworks will be presented in the Tramshed, a former rolling mill located in the centre of Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter conservation area, and bring an insight of this unique form of social protest from São Paulo. The exhibition will consist of 25 paintings of words and slogans reflecting on social injustice, usually painted by self-taught and often economically-marginalized people. The artist will exhibit two of his series - “Peripheral Manifesto” and “Code of Conduct”, however, the show will also provide an immediate introduction to the rich history and socio-cultural significance of pixaçao culture itself through selection of authentic photographs, legal documents from artist's lawsuits, timelines, and projections of pixação-related films. A limited edition print of one of the artworks will also be released and available to purchase at the exhibition.

The series ''Peripheral Manifesto'' carries the transcription of paragraphs of the manifesto titled ''The Mute Cry of the Invisibles''. In this manifesto, the pixaçao is a cry that spreads through the streets of a great Brazilian metropolis, a mute cry of a whole class of people from the peripheries that are invisible to society. Using paint and the urban landscape as their canvas, these young people have created a way of escaping the social invisibility in which they live.

The series ''Code of Conduct'' introduces works constructed with words representing the code of conduct of streets lived by the pixadores. A real complex culture that has its own signs, its rules of honour, its techniques, its way of speaking, and uses an unfamiliar vocabulary for those who do not belong to that world.

More information on Cripta Djan can be found at www.criptadjan.com
To request the artworks preview catalogue please write us.

LOCATION
The Tramshed
30 Kenyon Street
Birmingham, B18 6AR
United Kingdom

OPENING HOURS
Friday 13th - 5:30pm to 9:30pm
Saturday 14th to Saturday 21st -12pm to 8pm
Sunday 22nd - 12pm to 3pm