SAO PAULO, Oct 27 — To raise awareness of the impact of global warming and denounce the inaction of politicians, Brazilian street artist Mundano has created a giant mural on a building in the heart of the city of São Paulo. In black, gray and white, the mural looks like it’s been drawn in charcoal. However, it has actually been made using ash from forest fires.
A 10,000 kilometer expedition across Brazil and three months of collective work to renovate the facade of a building of just over 1,000 sqm. That’s what went into creating the “O Brigadista da Floresta” artwork by the Brazilian street artist Mundano, who created a huge mural on a building located in downtown São Paulo.
Entirely in shades of gray and black, the work is inspired by the famous painting “O Lavrador de Café” , painted in 1934 by the Brazilian artist, Candido Portinari. To create this work, Mundano collected 200 kg of ash from the country’s fire-ravaged areas: the Pantanal and Cerrado regions, the Atlantic Forest and the Amazon. This smoke residue was then mixed with water and transformed into paint, which the artist used to paint his mural.