With murals all over the world, Kobra invests in canvases and prepares a retrospective exhibition for 2027

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Represented by Eden Gallery, which has spaces in countries including the United States, France and the United Arab Emirates, the artist sold 16 paintings in Miami, a city that keeps eight of its 57 murals in the country, including iconic works like the six graffiti in the Wynwood neighborhood and the one dedicated to the pilot Ayrton Senna, at the local racetrack. The idea is to give more visibility to a production that the artist has been developing for years, started as part of his street art projects around the world.

— I’ve been doing this work on a smaller scale for about 20 years, but it’s not something that stands out because it started with studies of murals. Every public work always has an original on canvas, that’s how I test colors, light and shadows, explains Kobra. — Most of them were acquired by collectors, but it wasn’t as publicized because it was a technique that I was developing and evolving, understanding better how to adapt my work to a smaller scale.

In addition to the works sold directly at the workshop, collectors buy paintings by the artist during the charity auctions in which he participates, the profits from which he devotes to the Kobra Institute, focused on social and training actions, whose headquarters in Itu is being renovated and scheduled to open next year.

— It takes me longer to paint a canvas measuring one square meter than the gable of a building. As my works are realistic, in murals I can create shapes more quickly, working with light, shadows and perspective, he explains. — On the screen, everything is more detailed. I have to spend more time in a very small space to create details on the face or the hands, for example.

Kobra presented works made of cardboard and Carrara marble, as well as canvases, in Miami. The variety of media allows, in addition to entry into galleries, to be present in museums in addition to commissioned murals — last year he exhibited in spaces such as the Hampton House Museum, in Miami, and at the Palazzo Blu, in Pisa, Italy:

— Leaving the streets for the gallery and museum circuit has always been a challenge for those with a graffiti background, from Basquiat, Keith Haring, to current names like Banksy, JR, OSGÉMEOS. I know that this possibility comes from the visibility of my public work, which I will never give up. For an autodidact coming from the periphery, it is unimaginable to take advantage of these opportunities that art offers me.

Among the projects for the years to come, Kobra is preparing a traveling panorama covering more than three decades of his career, scheduled to open in 2027.