Ozi Stencil – 35 years of street art

Pioneer graffiti artist exhibits works that go back to the history of Street Art in Brazil

The Ministry of Tourism, Special Secretariat of Culture, State Government of São Paulo, City Hall of São Paulo and Museum of the City of São Paulo, by means of the Department of Culture and Creative Economy, present Ozi Stencil – 35 years of Street Art, curated by Marco Antonio Teobaldo. With more than 100 works in the most varied supports – sidings, fabrics, Woods, year, household objects, spray cans and other items - used by Ozi in its decades-long trajectory – paintings, sculptures, readymades – the show fills all the spaces in the mansion on Chácara Lane. "The occupation of each floor of the museum will have a work in large format, with the purpose of bringing the same impact that the artist's works have on the city's streets", says curator.

The twelve-year partnership between artist and curator makes it possible to present an important inventory clipping of a valuable part of the history of Street Art Brasileira, with documents, photographic records, documentaries, studies and works of Ozi, dating back to the decade of 1980 to the current period, with more recent and unpublished works. "This exhibition provides a journey through more than three decades of the artist's work, in which it is possible to see the various ways of applying the stencil, without ceasing to connect directly with their performance on the streets", explains Theobald.

In addition to these jobs, with Alices, Shirleys and Monalisas, a set of stencil matrices of the most emblematic items of the artist's career will be displayed, created between 1984 and 2015. Original matrices of the works from the series "Street Museum”, with references to artists such as Anita Malfatti, Van Gogh, Di Cavalcanti, Roy Lichtenstein and Picasso. The artist's biography is presented in two videos that bring together statements by the artist and work partners. From the personal documentation collection, historical images of the first groups of graffiti artists and their interventions in São Paulo are displayed.

The Street Art in Brazil emerged in the mid-years of 1970, in São Paulo, during the period of the military dictatorship, with Alex Vallauri, which brought together other artists such as Carlos Matuck, Waldemar Zaidler and Hudinilson Jr., and later John Howard, Julio Barreto, Ozi, Maurício Villaça and Coletivo Tupy do not give. This group brought art to the streets and wrote an important part of the history of the Brazilian urban scene, among them Ozi. "Inserted in that libertarian and precursory atmosphere, Ozi saw the opportunity to freely create, making use of resources from his advertising training to produce a fascinating repertoire, privileging pop culture that since then, has not relieved anyone in its intelligent and humorous critiques”, explains the curator. In 1984, Maurício Villaça opened the doors of his house, turning her into the gallery Art Brut, which constituted a space in the underground scene of the time and hosted visual and performance artists, poets and all manner of visitors attracted by the new artistic way of thinking. It was from the meeting of these artists, that began a series of speeches and public actions in the capital paulistana, that would make history in the Graffiti Brazil.

“With this show, it will be possible to pass both a look at the studio production, as in my performance in the four corners of the city, as an urban art artist” define Ozi.