Eduardo Kobra Research

Eduardo Kobra was born in 1975 in Jardim Martinica, in the south of São Paulo. He started in the world of graffiti before his teens, he liked painting on the walls so much that he was arrested 3 times for environmental crimes, for the inappropriate use of sprays.

In the 90s, he began painting decorations for events that were held in the amusement park in Brazil. It was the first time that they paid him for the projects he did, he was so successful that companies invested in his art.

The theme of his art is the kaleidoscope that is based on repeating squares and rectangles of different colours to create old public figures or capture historical moments. The works he creates with squares and rectangles he fills them with different textures and shadows to create realistic work. In 2007 his name came to the media for his project "Muro das Memórias" which is based on old photographs that tell the story of São Paulo.

Muro das Memórias (2007)

One of the most famous works by Kobra was "Etnias" (Ethnicities) painted to celebrate the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the work is famous for measuring 2,500 square meters and holds the record for the largest graffiti mural in the world, but this record was surpassed by itself with another work in honour of the chocolate "Cacau", this work measures 5,742 square meters.

Etnias (2016)

Cacau (2017)

Another famous work he did was in 2012 on the High Line in New York. It is a colourful replica of the image that Alfred Eisenstaedt photographed on August 13, 1945, when people took to the streets to celebrate the end of World War II. Kobra's graffiti was 11 meters high and 17 meters wide, it was a great tourist attraction and it was in the top 10 for photography in New York. Kobra's painting only lasted 4 years, nobody knows how or who erased it.

V-J Day Kiss in Times Square

O Beijo (2012-2016)

References

StreetArtBio (2020) Eduardo Kobra. [Online] StreetArtBio. Available from: https://www.streetartbio.com/artists/about-eduardo-kobra-biography/ [Accessed 02/02/21]

EduardoKobra (2021) Biography - Eduardo Kobra. [Online] EduardoKobra. Available from: https://www.eduardokobra.com/biografia [Accessed 02/02/21]

Google Arts and Culture (2020) 13 Unforgettable Photos by Alfred Eisenstaedt. [Online] Google Arts and Culture. Available from: https://artsandculture.google.com/story/13-unforgettable-photos-by-alfred-eisenstaedt/qgJyHMDOPffkLQ [Accessed 07/02/21]