These are symbols and acronyms used to identify the author of the work. A pichação is essentially the signature of a group of pichadores, the gang. It can contain her name, the abbreviation of the members’ nicknames and data such as region and date. Classes relate to each other friendly or hostile, and this is also marked on the walls (see our guide below). There are traditional gangs that emerged in the 90s and last until today: either because one of its members never stopped graffitiing (yes, there are graffiti artists over 40 years old), or because he selected a successor to carry the name forward. Created in the city of São Paulo in the 1980s, the most popular style is called straight graffiti and is respected by all fans. It is vandalism, yes, with trademark.
wall messengers
Set of registrations is always done in the same order, and serves for the group to assert itself and gain respect
SPRAY ROLLER
The inscription of the class is the main one in the straight graffiti. Classes are groups of taggers who use a common tag and do “rolês” (outings for graffiti) together. The names are hard to read, but you can decipher them with some practice. The class brand does not vary and all members have to know how to reproduce it perfectly
UNITY IS STRENGTH
Groups of letters are abbreviations and work like logos. The first element of the order, from left to right, is the “brand” logo. This is the name given to a group made up of several allied classes. It’s practically impossible to deduce the name from the logo: only those who graffiti know, off the top of their head, to identify a brand. But the class is not always part of a
IT’S US IN THE INK
The arrow means two things: first, it indicates that the relationship between the two classes (the one that points and the one that is pointed) is one of friendship. Second, it means that both did the “rolê” together, and graffitied one after the other. In other words, the arrow must be read as a comma – as they happened at the same time, the graffiti must be read sequentially.
PERSONAL BRAND
Each individual who participates in the graffiti also signs their initials, usually between the class letters or on the upper right side. These initials can be abbreviations, acronyms or even logos. Some are decipherable (“MRC,” for example, is an abbreviation for “Marcos”), some are not. Graffiti artists date graffiti to see how long it will last
ON FIRM LAND
The simplest form of graffiti is with your feet on the ground. Instead of climbing buildings and structures, those who work on the ground try to reach higher with the so-called “jeguerê”: a human ladder of up to four people standing on each other’s shoulders and resting their hands on the wall. Compared to other modalities, it is relatively safe.
HIGH RISK
In the “pico” graffiti, on top of buildings, members of the gang climb the lightning rod cables or the internal stairs themselves. They are usually made with paint rollers. When spray is used, it can be distinguished from “window” graffiti because the smoke is on the underside.
SUICIDAL EXPERTS
“Climbing” or “window” is the modality that most takes the lives of graffiti artists. The challenge is to climb buildings through the windows of the facades, at dawn, as high as possible. The graffiti are made with them usually hanging or stretching, so the highest parts of the signature gain a smoked effect, a sign that the spray was further away from the wall.
BULLSHIT ON THE WALL
Putting your graffiti above everyone else’s is a way of saying you were bolder and climbed higher – this is called a “break”, an innocent mockery. Insult is really the “run over”: graffiti on top of the signature of another group. It is an invitation to violence, a very serious insult that ends in a fight or death.
ATTENTION!
Graffiti, in addition to being dangerous, is a crime, according to federal law 9.605/98, with a penalty of 3 months to 1 year in prison
Curiosities
When all class members are together, the abbreviation used is “TDS”, from “all”
When a group spray paints in a region that is not theirs, they indicate their origin with acronyms: “ZL” is “east zone” and so on
There is no modality more important than another. The reputation of graffiti artists comes from quantity: the more places graffitied, the more noticed they are.
evolutionary line
The five types of graphic intervention, in order of sophistication
Sharpi
Originally from Rio de Janeiro, these graffiti are also known as “carioquinhas”. Made with chalk or pen ink, they are individual and illegible signatures.
Straight graffiti
The one shown below. It started as an adaptation of 80’s metal band titles and evolved into a set of rules, aesthetics and codes.
graphix
Straight graffiti stylized as graffiti, with various colors. It’s a way to mislead the police with the argument that «It’s not graffiti, it’s street art»
tag
It originated in New York in the 1980s. It is the very stylized signature creation of an individual artist. The complexity varies with the time available for the work
Graphite
Some argue that the first in history was made in the city of Ephesus in 4 BC Even though its roots are in vandalism, it has become more mainstream.
Consultancy João Cunha, former tagger and graphic artist
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