Grey City

Artists Use Graffiti as Political Resistance in Brazil

On the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, a new form of graffiti was born. Like wildfire, the works of artists such as Os Gemeos, Nunca, and Nina spread through the streets of the city and then to art galleries and museums around the world.

Nevertheless, City Hall implemented the Clean City Law in an effort to "combat visual pollution," hiring a small team to paint over graffiti deemed aesthetically unpleasing. When a large-scale mural was painted over, the artists unleashed a graffiti war against the local government, giving birth to one of the most creative resistance movements in Latin American art. Together, the artists worked to recreate lost artwork in an act that embodied the tensions within the city over who decides which pieces are art and which pieces get painted over.

Official Selection at the DocNYC Film Festival.

"A lively doc that will please fans of the global graffiti scene..." - John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter