Alexandre Orion

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Alexandre Orion (b. São Paulo, Brazil, 1979) is a contemporary Brazilian graffiti artist and photographer. His work combines both media.

He was born and raised in São Paulo. He began selling his own painted t-shirts when he was 14 [1], and graduated from art school in 2003. He has also worked as a tattoo artist, illustrator, tattooist, designer, and webmaster [2]. His latest series is called Metabiotics.

Orion's work features photos of passers-by interacting with his graffiti. The major components of each piece are as follows (in chronological order):

stencil graffiti
passer-by (spontaneous, many don't realize they are being photgraphed)
photo of graffiti and passer-by

Each piece begins with a stenciled graffiti image, often of a dynamic subject (e.g., monster [3], graffiti artist [4], flying man [5], falling flowerpot [6]), intended to interact naturally with passers-by. Once he has painted the graffiti, he sets up his camera and waits for the right photo of a passer-by with the graffiti. For example, in his latest series, one photo is of a woman standing between a pair of painted wings [7]. For each completed graffiti, he estimates that he takes roughly 70 photos, and selects the best one [8].

His graffiti is unusual and distinctive, compared to American graffiti for a few reasons. First, his graffiti is "pre-fabricated". The images are first base-painted with white latex, then detailed using black spray paint and a pre-made stencil. In contrast, American graffiti is traditionally free hand spray paint. Second, his graffiti is black and white, in the Brazilian tradition of "pichaçao". Third, he does not sign his pieces, or "tag" a stylized version of his name. Finally, the graffiti image is the beginning, rather than the whole of a piece. A completed Orion piece is a photograph of a passer-by, serving as providing a foreground focal point, against his graffiti background. [9]

Orion has been featured in gallery shows in São Paulo, Brasilia, San Francisco, Paris and New York City [10].