Currently, one of São Paulo’s most famous and prolific pixadores goes by the moniker RAPDOS, a variation on the word rápido. Fame in the world of pixação is primarily a numbers game – so much so that seasoned pixadores boast about having left their mark on nearly every wall of the city. Thus began the evolution of this city’s distinctive pixação: a style of urban writing that has inspired numerous pixadores to come up with their own variations on this type of calligraphy – according to one estimate, there are more than 5,000 active pixadores in São Paulo alone.Īt its most basic level, pixação is about vanity, fame and self-promotion, which is why the vast majority of pixos are either personal monikers or the names of particular griffes (collectives). In true Brazilian fashion, youths in São Paulo cannibalised this foreign practice. In addition to the brute force of bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, AC/DC and Metallica, Paulistano youths were also attracted to their album covers – in particular, the runic-inspired typeface these bands used to brand themselves. The musical genre that developed in the UK and US gained a strong following in São Paulo. Politically, the country was undergoing a gradual transition to democracy, but politics weren’t the only thing on the mind of São Paulo’s youth – so was heavy metal. The style we now identify with pixação first emerged in São Paulo in the 1980s. By the late 1960s, when students took to the streets to voice their dissent against Brazil’s military government, spray painting phrases such as “ abaixo a ditatura” (“down with the dictatorship”) on the walls of public buildings became an important act of protest. In the 1930s, political candidates wrote campaign slogans all over them. The use of São Paulo’s city walls as a canvas is not new.

There are more than 5,000 active pixadores in São Paulo now.

Duly noted alternative