Art - MAHAMAG Magazine beyond boundaries

Eduardo Kobra's Mural Painting, World's Largest

BRAZIL – Even though the historic Rio 2016 Olympic Games have concluded with 65 new Olympic and nineteen new world records made, yet another record was claimed in Rio earlier this week. The Guinness World Records officially recognized the Olympic Boulevard mural of Brazilian street artist Eduardo Kobra, titled Etnias (Ethnicities), as the world’s largest spray paint mural by a team.At 51 feet tall and 560 feet wide, Etnias measures approximately thirty thousand square feet.

Until the start of the 2016 Rio Paralympics, many of the Olympic Boulevard activities have closed. But, along with the Etnias mural, tourists visiting the area can still visit Casa Brazil, the largest of the Olympic Houses, which will continue to open during the period between the Olympics and the Paralympics.

To create the work, the 40-year-old São Paulo street artist and his team of four used one hundred gallons of white paint, four hundred gallons of colored paint, and approximately three thousand cans of spray paint. To reach the enormous heights of the warehouse wall, they also employed seven hydraulic lifts.Working a minimum of twelve hours a day, Kobra and his team finished the work, which was commissioned by the International Olympic Committee, in 45 days. “It’s something that has to be seen to be believed,” said British tourist Chris Ward while visiting the site. “Truly inspiring.”

The record-breaking mural is located on Olympic Boulevard, which was one of the most visited sites during the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Covering the side of an abandoned warehouse on Olympic Boulevard in Rio’s revitalized Port Zone, the “We’re living through a very confusing time with a lot of conflict. I wanted to show that everyone is united, we are all connected,” Kobra said to Rio 2016.

Using his signature style of quilted design patterns composing brightly colored figures, Kobra’s work depicts the aged faces of five indigenous tribes from different continents: the Huli tribe from New Guinea, the Mursi from Ethiopia, the Kayin from Thailand, the Supi from Europe, and the Tapajos from the Americas. Kobra chose five tribes based on the five rings in the Olympic symbol.

The mural was unveiled on July 30th a few days before the start of the Games, but it wasn’t until this week that it entered the Guinness record books.

In a released statement this week announcing the new record, Guinness World Records said, “Kobra’s work required an uncanny combination of ability and artistry,” and will be remembered “as one of the most impressive pieces of his collection.” Kobra’s murals of famous or historical figures are renowned and distinctive for their kaleidoscopic use of bright colors and bold lines.

Kobra is part of the new urban, artistic vanguard in, Brazil, and has made his mark on a global scale. He began as a young street artist in a low-income Paulista neighborhood called Clear Field and started tagging with an older graffiti crew called “Hip Hop.”

Kobra's massively scaled portraits are a labor of love created with methodical grid planning. He typically works on buildings and walls using a mix of brushes, airbrushing and spray cans. He incorporates repeating squares and triangles in variegated backgrounds and intricate shading and swirling effects to achieve a sense of photorealism while maintaining playful color themes.

His murals can be found throughout the world: from Brazil, Russia, Poland, Switzerland and Italy, to Los Angeles, New York and soon Minneapolis. Other notable figures he has captured in his work include Abraham Lincoln, the Presidents carved in Mount Rushmore, a ballerina poised as if for flight, inventor Alfred Nobel, activist Malala Yousafzai and pianist Arthur Rubenstein.

Another popular Kobra mural is viewable from the High Line park in New York City and is based on the iconic Alfred Eisenstaedt photograph, “V-J Day in Times Square,” which captures a sailor kissing a woman in white.

Kobra seeks to transform the urban landscape through art that captures elements of a city and blends memory and modernity. He often incorporates new technologies into his work and did the first 3D painting on the pavement of the Patriarca Plaza in central São Paulo, which looks different depending on the angle of the viewer.

1.2 million travellers visited the area during the Olympics. “I’m motivated by challenges,” said Kobra. “This building was totally abandoned. My team had to paint it all white and even recover some parts of it. This was a collaboration.”