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Eduardo Kobra
Eduardo kobra.png
Born
Carlos Eduardo Fernandes Léo

(1975-08-27) August 27, 1975 (age 49)
Occupation Muralist
Years active 1987–present
Known for Urban Art and Activism

Carlos Eduardo Fernandes Léo (born August 27, 1975, in São Paulo, Brazil), known as Eduardo Kobra, nicknamed Kobra, is a street artist who officially began his career in 1987 at 11 years old, in his hometown of São Paulo. Since then he has painted over 3,000 murals on five different continents. Some of these murals are commissioned while others are his original, raw ideas. Kobra now works with a team of artists who paint between two and four murals each month. To this day Kobra continues to live and work in his hometown of São Paulo.

Early life

Oscar Niemeyer by Eduardo Kobra (mural, 2013)
Portrait of Oscar Niemeyer by Eduardo Kobra, on a building in São Paulo.
Anne Frank Kobra
Let Me Be Myself (Anne Frank), street art by Eduardo Kobra in Amsterdam.

Eduardo Kobra grew up in São Paulo, Brazil's largest city. His father was a weaver and his mother was a housewife. He attended public school at Escola Municipal Mauricio Simão. He did not get any official academic training, but became a well known, self-taught artist. Before he started his official art career, he enjoyed illegally tagging walls which eventually lead to several arrests throughout his teenage years.

Career

Eduardo Kobra was influenced by both modern and contemporary artists all around the world. He was specifically influenced by muralists such as Banksy, Keith Haring and Diego Rivera. His artwork is highly research driven. He rooted his artworks in art history by painting famous artworks in his own style in hopes of not only inserting himself into history but also bringing awareness to São Paulo as a town. He researched the science behind human vision, architecture, urban space and tri-dimensional projects because he wanted to understand how to effectively paint in order to give his viewer a specific experience. Due to the realism of his murals and the 3-D design of his work, the viewer is often confused because the human eye has a hard time differentiating between sculpture and painting on a flat surface. This confusion is his ultimate goal in his murals. Before painting a work that is site specific, he researches the history and culture of the city in order to situate the art in a city conclusively. Eduardo Kobra uses his own technique when it comes to street art. This technique involves airbrush and spray paint. By using these two mediums he is able to use immense detail, perfect aesthetic and rich light and shadow to make his objects appear 3-D.

The main goal of his work is to provide a space for the public to interact with his art. He did not want the public to have to go to a museum to see art, he wanted it to be accessible to all, thus pushing back against the difference between high and low art. During his teenage years Kobra ran with a well-known graffiti group known as "Hip Hop" in São Paulo which was who he began experimenting with street art as a career. By the 1990s Kobra made São Paulo the main site for contemporary street art. During this time, he began making posters for events that were held at the largest amusement park in Brazil, which was his first paid art job. The advertising he did for the amusement park was so successful that he began getting asked by other companies to produce advertisements for them.

In the early 2000s Kobra created his Memory Walls project. The goal of this project was to transform the appearance of an urban space through the means of a piece of art while also bringing back the lost memories of the city. He incorporated old photos of São Paulo that he spread throughout the town integrated within his trademark graffiti. This project was made up of smaller murals distributed throughout the city telling the story of the history of São Paulo while also showing the stark contrast between past São Paulo and the present São Paulo. In total, he used 10,000 square feet of space distributed around the city to complete his project. In 2007 the media got a hold of this project and began waiting with anticipation for what his next project would be.

In 2011, Kobra painted his first mural outside of Brazil in France. France invited him to come paint on a wall in a neighborhood on Lyon, France, that was revived. They wanted to remember this time in their history and show the process of their revival in hopes of never losing sight of what their neighborhood has been through. In 2017, Madonna invited Kobra to paint two murals at Mercy James Institute for Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care in Malawi after she saw his Fight for Street Art mural, which depicts Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

His career has continued as he is a still a practicing artist, painting in different countries around the world.

Eduardo Kobra Graffiti
Bob Dylan panels by Eduardo Kobra in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Legacy

In 2016 Kobra painted the then largest mural titled Ethnic Groups which celebrated the 2016 Olympic games. Then in 2017 he surpassed his own record when he painted a street mural that was 5,742 square meters.

Kobra has worked for a number of large organizations and public figures such as Playcenter, Beto Carrero World, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Chevrolet, Ford, Roché, Johnie Walker, Londice Cacau show and Carmim.

Work

The following table lists Kobra's major works.

Title Location Year
Raoni Portugal 2017
Dali Murcia, Spain 2017
La Familia Monet Boulogne sur Mer, France 2017
Madela Malawi 2017
Riches of St. Louis Sao Luis, State of Maranhão 2017
Gandhi Mumbai, India 2017
David Carrara, Italy 2017
Christ Tokyo, Japan 2016
Muddy Chicago, US 2016
We Are All One (Ethnicities) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2016
Bedouin Dubai, United Arab Emirates 2016
Let Me Be Myself (Anne Frank) Amsterdam, Netherlands 2016
Stop Wars Miami, United States 2015
The Legend of Brazil São Paulo, Brazil 2015
Looks At Peace Los Angeles, United States 2015
Hamlet Palm Beach, United States 2015
Gonzaga Recife, Brazil 2015
Great Bike Riding São Paulo, Brazil 2015
Club 27 São Paulo, Brazil 2015
Ziggy Stardust Jersey City, United States 2015
The Times They are a-changin', Bob Dylan Minneapolis, United States 2015
Neil Armstrong Cincinnati, United States 2015
Mariarte Mexico 2014
Rubinstein Lodz, Poland 2014
Rationals São Paulo, Brazil 2014
The Thinker São Paulo, Brazil 2014
Alfred Nobel Boras, Sweden 2014
Malala Rome, Italy 2014
Fight for Street Art Brooklyn, United States 2014
O Candango Brasilia, Brazil 2014
Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. Miami, United States 2013
Ballet Dancer Moscow, Russia 2013
Abraham Lincoln Lexington, United States 2013
Oscar Niemeyer São Paulo, Brazil 2013
The Kiss New York, United States 2012-2016

Exhibitions

The following table lists Kobra's major exhibitions.

Year Title Location Type
2009 Eduardo Kobra Salon National Des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France Solo
2009 Production Panel 8th Architecture Biennale in São Paulo, Brazil Group
2009 Urban Intervention in Painting in Three Demensions São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro and Brazilia, DF, Brazil Group
2009 Mural Celebrating the Birthday of São Paulo São Paulo, Brazil Solo
2010 First 3-D Painting in Brazil Patriarch Plaza, São Paulo, Brazil Solo
2011 Mural UNE Biennial São Paulo, Brazil Group
2011 Wall, London, Roundhouse London, UK Solo
2011 Wall Lyon, France Solo
2011 History of the Complexo do Alemão Complexo do Alemão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Group
2011 Paradise Art Gallery André, São Paulo, Brazil Solo
2011 Greenpincel Vila Madelana, São Paulo, Brazil Solo
2011 Sarasota Chalk Festival Miami, US Group
2011 Art Basel Miami, US Group
2012 PART Fair of Contemporary Art Paço das Artes, São Paulo, Brazil Group
2013 Paulista Walla Avenue Paulista near metro Paradise Solo
2014 The American Dream 1AM Gallery, San Francisco, CA, US Solo
2015 Wall Fifth Street and Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, US Solo

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Eduardo Kobra para niños

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