Art for charity

STEALING FROM THE RICH from ABOVE on Vimeo.

Above, a well-known artist, included the Ephemeral Museum, is starting a project to donate money to a homeless shelter in Lisbon.

He is making a Giclee Print of the "Stealing from the Rich, and giving to the poor" piece he did in Lisbon (see the video here.)

His idea is to sell the prints and donate 100% of all the profits to a Homeless shelter in Lisbon (since he painted the piece here!)

He expects to raise $20,000 US Dollars for this cause, so we are looking for a center that needs money and helps out Homeless people DIRECTLY!!! with Food, Shelter, Clothing, etc.

Any information will be very welcome.

We consider this to be a noble cause, and we want to spread the word. You can help Above too, by sending this info to all your friends. Thanks.

BEFORE AND AFTER

As we informed, some of the Ephemeral Museu works are being erased. So that you don’t get caught off-guard when you come and visit, we’ll keep giving you some information of what is being changed, whenever it happens.

Here’s the first update.

ONESTO: INTERVIEW

Alex Hornest, 72 D.I.E.S.E.L, Arma Secreta, A.F.A. and ONESTO are some of the 72 nicknames used by this brazilian artist who is now showing himself in Lisbon for an collective exhibition named Território Ocupado (Occupied Territory), along with other renowned brazilian artists such as Speto and Nunca.

Onesto is one of the most prominent figures of brazilian street art. This painter, sculptor and multimedia artist is performing for 16 years in the streets of the main cities in Brazil, intervening in urban environments and inspired by everything that surrounds him, from people to the architecture of the places he visits.

During his brief stop in Lisbon we had the opportunity to talk to Onesto and find out how he felt about the Portuguese capital of graffiti. And about Portuguese pastry.

Ephemeral Museum: WHICH WAS YOUR FIRST IMPRESSION ABOUT LISBON.

ONESTO: Lisbon is totally bombed! I thought there wasn’t a lot of graffiti here. I was always under the impression that everything in Europe was forbidden and that the law was very strict, scaring people out of doing stuff. I was wrong. I was impressed o see that Lisbon has a lot of graffiti. I was very positively impressed. There’s a lot of people doing great stuff around here. You guys are sick!

E.M. : WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS INITIATIVE FROM THE EPHEMERAL MUSEUM OF CATALOGGING AND SPREAD URBAN ART

O. : I thought it was pretty cool. Some people walk on the same street everyday and don’t realize the art that is there. If the initiative from the Ephemeral Museum is about opening up a space for people to get to know urban art better, I think it’s great. The more people know about our work, the less biased they will be. Unfortunately, that information doesn’t reach everybody, and lots of times we’re considered hooligans instead of artists.

E.M. : DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS CLEANING BEING MADE IN BAIRRO ALTO BY THE CITY COUNCIL?

O. : Yeah man, actually I do. If your art is on the streets, these things can happen. Otherwise, it’s not really EPHEMERAL, is it? That cleaning at the same time opens space for new artists to show their work. Honestly, I think it’s a waste of money and time on the government’s part, I think Bairro won’t last a week without graffitis.
I even think it’s better like this. In Brazil, lots of works remain untouched for years, no one does anything to them, no one paints over them. It gets less ephemeral, you see? So it doesn’t open new spaces for nobody, looks like you’re not even painting on the streets. (laughs)


E.M. : WHAT ARE YOUR INFLUENCES.


O. : I’m influenced by many artists, inside and outside Brazil. Before I used to be addicted to art and would be all over the internet to find out everything that was booming abroad. But apart from that, I would also consider cartoons as influences, like Tom and Jerry and the Disnet characters, retro style, black and white, when Mickey still had those giant white hands. Maybe that’s why I still paint my character’s hands that way.

E.M. WHY DO YOU THINK BRAZILIAN GRAFITTI IS SO HIP NOWADAYS.

O. : I think brazilian street artists were able to put a lot of Brazil’s essence in their art. The twins, with their colorful characters, were influenced by the brazilian northeast. Speto was influenced by the Cordel paintings, Nunca by the brazilian natives, me, for using a more urban kind of characters, represent São Paulo more. And the list is far from being over, there are so many of good guys that are successful in taking Brazil and its essence outside its borders. And that is showing in the success of the artists that nowadays are exhibiting all over the world.

E.M. : THANKS FOR THIS CHAT ONESTO. SO WHAT WILL YOUR NEXT STOP BE AFTER LISBON?

O. : After Lisbon I’m still going to a Street Art festival in Florence, Italy, called La Creativida. Okay everybody. It was a pleasure.