Art Around the World in 30 Days – Day #1 – Portugal +Brazil

Olá! Here we go! This is my first post in my month-long series where I take you around the world and show you artworks from 30 countries and 30 different cultures.

These two twin brothers from Brazil, Os Gemeos, are my new favorite artists! When I was searching for art for this series, I came across this article from HuffPo, 25 Street Artists From Around The World Who Are Shaking Up Public Art. Look at the building in Boston on number 2. SOOOOO COOOOOOOOL. It’s so great; I can’t take it. Actually now that I think of it, I don’t know they I ever got past number 2 on the list because I immediately went off and looked for more Os Gemeos artwork. I wasn’t disappointed. They have tons more work and document it well on their website.

I chose this Lisbon street art pictured above instead, because it has some awesome talking points for students. I think high schoolers would especially latch on to this one. The picture above is awesome, but it’s not the whole picture. I couldn’t find a non-copyrighted photograph of the full thing, so you’ll need to click over to this website to see a big, greedy business-man king with logos on his crown drinking the oceans with a straw. (squeee I love this artwork so much!) In addition to 8 more detailed pictures, you can also see a time-lapse video of the whole painting process.

Look at the detailed shots and come up with your own meaning for the work. Use the questions and ideas below to extend your learning about the artwork.

Art Discussion Questions

1. Who are the people depicted, and what are they doing? What is their relationship? What can you tell by your observations of the artwork alone?
2. What is the meaning or message? What is the story being told?
3. How would this artwork be different if it were painted on a different surface and on a different scale? How does the place and size of the artwork change its meaning?
4. How did the artists incorporate the architecture into the design? (I read that the king’s eyes actually dangle from the balconies so they move in the wind! Amazing!)

Street Art Project

Have your students plan their own street art. Have them pick a building in their town or some place they know well. Consider the surroundings, how people view it, what meaning the building has, how they can incorporate elements of the building’s architecture, etc. Have them plan their meaning and make sure it relates to the space. Then, have them draw the building with the design and color with colored pencils.

More Resources

• Apparently Lisbon is a mecca for amazing street art. This article has lots of pictures.
• Os Gemeos (pictured on the right): A coffee table book with lots of beautiful and big pictrues of their art. I have officially added this to my Amazon wishlist!
• Check out the Red Ted Art lesson on street art that I linked to on my 7 Art History Projects that made me say Wow!
• The Tate Gallery (museum in London) has a really cool street art web game where kids can spray a virtual wall while listening to some fun punk music.

Please note, this post includes Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

That’s it! It’s really all downhill from here, because OsGemeos are my new heroes. Come back tomorrow for an artwork from Nigeria!

For more art from around the world, visit the index here.