"John Howard is the most important guy! He started graffiti here in Sao Paulo. In the late 70's he was the first to use the streets , and discover the city!!!! all our respect to him!"
OsGemeos 2013
John Howard: The pioneer of urban art in Sao Paulo Brazil
The artist John Howard is said to be the godfather of the street art movement in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is a living legend who started painting in public space more than 30.years ago. Artists like Os Gemeos see him as the most important person in what became the graffiti capital of the World: Sao Paulo. They say that his work was an important inspiration for them when they were still kids and finding their own way into the arts.. Now in his 70s, John Howard is still very active, painting on the streets of Sao Paulo. We are very pleased, and proud to say, that John will make his first appearance in Europe at the International Billboard Painting Festival, at Kunsthal Brænderigården, Viborg, Denmark.
John believes that that Sao Paulo metropolitan area, which is said to now hold some twenty million persons, presented the following conditions which have made street art so popular in the city:
The climate is always moderate; the architecture is ideal with many white walls; millions of young persons have no playground, park, or green space in which to play or very many organized activities in which to participate and exercise their creativity; most adults have never seen an art exposition and enjoy seeing public art for this reason (the support of the public has been fundamental for our success). Finally, Brazil is a land where “flexibility” is considered a great virtue and, when public authorities and law enforcement (personnel of which John has met many times on the city streets) realized that this art was not only agreeable to the population, but that it was projecting Sao Paulo´s name to the world as “The Graffiti Capital” they became tolerant and even appreciative of our efforts.
