Eduardo Kobra facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Eduardo Kobra
Born	Carlos Eduardo Fernandes Léo (1975-08-27) August 27, 1975 (age 49) São Paulo, Brazil
Occupation	Muralist
Years active	1987–present
Known for	Urban Art and Activism

Carlos Eduardo Fernandes Léo (born August 27, 1975), known as Eduardo Kobra, is a famous street artist from São Paulo, Brazil. He started his art journey officially in 1987 when he was just 11 years old. Since then, Kobra has painted over 3,000 large murals across five different continents!

Some of his amazing murals are special requests, while others come from his own creative ideas. Kobra now works with a team of artists. Together, they create between two and four new murals every month. Kobra still lives and works in his hometown of São Paulo.

Eduardo Kobra's Early Life

A mural of Oscar Niemeyer by Eduardo Kobra in São Paulo.

Let Me Be Myself (Anne Frank) mural by Eduardo Kobra in Amsterdam.

Eduardo Kobra grew up in São Paulo, which is Brazil's biggest city. His father worked as a weaver, and his mother was a homemaker. He went to a public school called Escola Municipal Mauricio Simão. Kobra did not have any official art school training. Instead, he taught himself how to create art and became a very well-known artist. Before starting his official art career, he enjoyed drawing on walls.

Kobra's Art Career

Eduardo Kobra was inspired by many artists from around the world, both old and new. He especially looked up to muralists like Banksy, Keith Haring, and Diego Rivera. Kobra does a lot of research for his artwork. He often paints famous artworks in his own unique style. He hopes this helps people learn about art history and also brings attention to São Paulo.

He also studied how human eyes see things, as well as architecture and urban spaces. This helped him understand how to paint effectively. His goal is to give viewers a special experience. Because his murals look so real and often have a 3-D effect, people sometimes get confused. It can be hard to tell if it's a painting or a sculpture on a flat wall! This confusion is exactly what he aims for in his art. Before painting in a specific place, he learns about the city's history and culture. This helps him make sure his art fits perfectly.

Kobra's Painting Technique

Eduardo Kobra uses his own special technique for street art. He uses both airbrush and spray paint. By combining these, he can add incredible detail. He creates perfect looks with rich light and shadow. This makes his painted objects appear to be 3-D.

Making Art for Everyone

A main goal of Kobra's work is to create art that everyone can enjoy. He believes people should not have to go to a museum to see art. He wants art to be available to everyone, everywhere. This idea challenges the difference between "high art" (like museum art) and "low art" (like street art).

When he was a teenager, Kobra was part of a well-known graffiti group in São Paulo called "Hip Hop." This is where he first started thinking about street art as a career. By the 1990s, Kobra helped make São Paulo a major center for modern street art. During this time, he started making posters for events at Brazil's largest amusement park. This was his first paid art job. His advertising for the park was so successful that other companies soon asked him to create ads for them too.

The Memory Walls Project

In the early 2000s, Kobra started his "Memory Walls" project. The idea was to change how urban spaces looked through art. He also wanted to bring back forgotten memories of the city. He used old photos of São Paulo and painted them into his unique graffiti style. These smaller murals were spread throughout the city. They told the story of São Paulo's history and showed the big difference between the past and present city. For this project, he used a huge area of about 10,000 square feet across the city. In 2007, the news media noticed this project. People began to eagerly wait for his next big artwork.

International Murals

In 2011, Kobra painted his first mural outside of Brazil, in France. The city of Lyon invited him to paint on a wall in a neighborhood that had been rebuilt. They wanted to remember this important time in their history. In 2017, the singer Madonna asked Kobra to paint two murals. These were for the Mercy James Institute for Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care in Malawi. She had seen his Fight for Street Art mural, which showed artists Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Kobra continues to be an active artist. He paints in many different countries around the world.

Bob Dylan panels by Eduardo Kobra in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Kobra's Legacy

In 2016, Kobra painted what was then the largest mural in the world. It was called Ethnic Groups and celebrated the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Then, in 2017, he broke his own record! He painted an even bigger street mural that was 5,742 square meters (about 61,800 square feet).

Kobra has worked for many big companies and famous people. These include Playcenter São Paulo, Beto Carrero World, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Chevrolet, Ford, Roché, Johnnie Walker, Londice Cacau show, and Carmim.

Major Works

The table below lists some of Kobra's most important murals.

Art Exhibitions

The table below lists some of Kobra's major art exhibitions.

See also

In Spanish: Eduardo Kobra para niños