PART OF THE CITY
May 2024, Bonifacio
Meet ENERI, a Sao Paulo native who practises the endemic art of Pixação, where she free-climbs buildings of cities all over the world to paint her work. Becoming one with the art during the pandemic, when the streets were free and empty and she had to put her teaching on hold, Eneri tells a tale of feeling like the city was in her hands and that becoming a pixação was also an attempt at survival. As dangerous and illegal as it is, the art form was born in the streets and conveys important messages about representation, inequality, justice and the democratisation of art in urban public spaces. Eneri’s work Untitled is currently being exhibited at the Biennale de Bonifacio until November 2nd.
© Eneri, Sans Titre, 2024, De Renava
Do you prefer being called Irene or Eneri?
I don't mind. Usually, Eneri, it’s probably someone who knows me from the streets. Irene usually is someone who knows a little more about me.
Eneri is your signature when you're doing Pixação. Why did you choose that one specifically?
It's because it's my name back to front. In the beginning, I started out writing Irene, and then the police started to know me better because I started getting into trouble. I also recently found out that Irene means peace, so when it’s back to front it speaks more with the chaos of the city.
How old were you when you first picked up a paint can?
I was not a good student at school, I was already doing it in the bathrooms and on the tables. When I was 17, I went out and met a friend who painted, and he gave me a can. And we went crazy. A few months later I discovered the Pixação points, a place where people change pixos signatures, while they drink and talk. After that, I started to walk around the city and recognize some signatures of the people I met there. For me, it was so nice to walk around and feel their presence without them actually being there. I started to want to be part of this also, to be a part of the city.
It's like you found a community in this art form. Can you define what Pixação is?
Pixação is a street movement from street art. It breaks away from the graffiti and tagging aesthetic because it's something that’s more aggressive and more simple. Also, it's really cultural to climb without equipment or anything else to tag the buildings. When you come to Brazil, you see how expressive it is. You know? You can see buildings, covered in pixaçao tags and a lot of people are doing it… I think more than 10,000 people. It's really common here.
Is it something that was born in Sao Paulo, or is it just all around Brazil and South America?
It was born in Sao Paulo in the eighties by the punk movements after the dictatorship, as a sort of rebellion. After some time, the whole country started but each state developed its own style. We kept black as the main colour and straight lines which is why it’s completely different from graffiti. We have a rich diversity and culture, and if you go by car from Sao Paulo to Rio, you totally feel the different aesthetic. The architecture of the buildings also changes. So it is kind of like each place has a conversation with the styling, the architecture, and the rhythm of the city.
© Eneri, Sans Titre, 2024 De Renava, photo by Florent Biancarelli
Growing up in Brazil, how do you think that Brazilian culture influenced your art and the style you chose?
I think I'm totally influenced by Sao Paulo. From my body, my tattoos, my way of thinking. From how chaotic I kind of am. My art also has this influence, from the aesthetic of pixo, but also from my experience as a woman, feminism, politics and colonisation which we talk about a lot in Brazil.
Did you ever feel like it was complicated for you as a woman when you were doing Pixação?
When I am painting alone, I notice that more people try to harass me in comparison to if I'm with some guy. And don’t think that they will not beat us because we are women. I’ve already lived through some police violence. When you go out on the streets to do something that is illegal, it’s a Russian roulette. I don't think that I deserve this because I’m not hurting anyone. That's just how the system is. So we need to take the risks, for what we believe in.
Do you feel like there's enough representation of women in street art, and are there any women who have influenced you in your art style?
I started to climb because I saw some women doing it, and then noticed that it was possible for me to do the same. Also, there was a girl who taught me how to go down on the ropes for doing spots with rappel equipment (the ones that aren’t possible to do without it). There are many of us doing Pixo. But I think we need more women represented in the art. I think we need more women from the “third” world in the galleries. I think people pay more attention to the “first” world. There aren’t the same opportunities for people who live in places like Brazil. So it's like you need to be ten times better to be noticed.
You talk a lot about risk and you climb with no protection. Have there been any moments where you're like, “Oh my god, am I going to die?
Definitely. We're doing this crazy stuff, but you don’t see how much time we trained together. For sure we risk our lives, I think we risk every day when we go out on the street. Even if we are not painting. I have a motor bicycle here and for me, I also feel really scared and I also feel that I could die on the motorcycle. So I think it's great for people to see it and understand that everything has a risk. When you are there and when you are under control, you know, and also you can decide if you continue or not. I’ve had some spots that we tried to do, and it was too difficult, and we were not feeling comfortable. And it was like, “Okay. Let's go down.” We don't need to do it because our life is more valuable than this.
© Eneri, Sans Titre, 2024 De Renava
What themes does your piece Untitled in the ROMA AMOR exhibition explore?
It’s about inequality and how having a focus on the first world kills. Pixaçao is aggressive because we live in an unequal place. In Sao Paulo, you can see the rich and the poor living side by side. It’s really crazy to me but people see it and feel normal. But then they see people like me writing on the walls, and they feel like that isn’t normal. The Pixaçao aesthetic, it's just to show the ruins. So it completely relates with the whole exhibition which is about the falling of empires. The Pixaçao itself shows that this empire is falling down completely. I wrote a message, and I know that not everybody can read and understand it, but, I believe that when you write something and the message is there, the energy is there. So even if people can’t understand it in some way, they can feel it somehow. They can feel that it's aggressive.
What do you see for the future of the Pixaçao style? How do you see it evolving?
Pixo wants to be everywhere it's possible to be. I think for people who are from here, it's always a victory when we see each other going places, being discovered and growing with our art. It's crazy to think about, something that I just love, that was innocent but also violent in the same way. I didn't expect it but I think it's a huge cultural, social, and aesthetic movement, and it's nice to be seen. Also, we don’t want it to start being legal, even if it’s art, because the essence of it is in the transgression. I agree to feel the consequences of being caught, but it’s not fair to take our life, our health, or our freedom because of this, there are many other ways to “punish” people, like doing some work for the community.
Were you ever interested in exploring other forms of art or mediums?
In my artwork, I don't limit myself to this. I don't even like to put myself in the street art box. I like to play with contemporary art, with video and with performing. Also with clothing and 3D stuff. I have a lot of plans, and I don’t show everything. It's something that I want to think more about. It's crazy. When I started to make Pixo, I discovered a whole new universe. I don't feel that art is only about being beautiful. I always want to put out a nice message. I also don't want to only stay in the galleries and all that stuff, I like to play. It's important, when you put yourself on the streets, presenting yourself to people that are not used to consuming art. In museums and galleries, they are looking for art. But a lot of people that [see Pichaçao], are on their daily routines, why can’t they have a piece of art too?
That’s interesting because the fact that you’re painting on buildings in the middle of cities also means that your art is accessible to everyone, and it's not limited to these structural institutions. That's also what's important with art, being able to share it with everyone.
When you live here in Sao Paulo, you really feel this. If you talk to people, especially people from the hood or people from Pixo, they will not know artistic references. They don’t know artistic references from Brazil, but they know some Pixo from the streets. A lot of people never put their foot in a gallery or a museum. So the only exposure they have to art is in their daily routine, on the bus, walking around the city and seeing the buildings.
Left © Eneri, Sans Titre, 2024 De Renava
Right © Eneri, Sans Titre, 2024 and painting of Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Palais-Fesch, Musée des Beaux-Arts, De Renava
Interview by Gabrielle Valda Colas