Alexandre Orion

In 2006, Orion created Ossário (Ossuary), an intervention in one of São Paulo's road tunnels, spending 17 nights or early mornings using pieces of cloth to remove some of the thick layer of soot from vehicle exhausts impregnating sidewalls. But the grime was selectively wiped off in such a way that skulls were outlined by the grime left on the walls. The tunnel became a catacomb with over 3,500 hand-designed skulls reminding people that the same black soot impregnating tunnel walls also darkens our lungs and our lives. Our very own archeological site was brought to our notice. The work was done at night as Orion faced deafening traffic noise, the suffocating sensation of stagnant air, and numerous police checks. But cleaning is not a crime; polluting is. As the work progressed, it became clear that nobody could stop him cleaning up - except by doing the job before him. So a few weeks later, teams of municipal workers turned up to remove grime, but only from the intervention area. The rest of the tunnel was left as it was. As if nothing had happened, Orion continued working until the municipal staff returned. This time, they washed the whole tunnel. The name of the crime had changed: now it was censorship. After the intervention, all the road tunnels in the city were cleaned up. But the recently washed walls became black again in an amazing short time. The Ossário message had already been delivered. But Orion did not stop there. Returning to the tunnels, he drew the skulls and took the dust or soot off the walls using rags. Then, he washed the rags and waited for the soot to settle and the water to evaporate until just the black powder from exhaust tubes was left. This apparently useless toxic substance was made into pigment and used for the works in the Art Less Pollution series of large-scale paintings, their impressive realism evoking old advertising images with a touch of irony. Orion is using pollution to portray the apparently inoffensive everyday existence that produces it.

Orion has two published books: Metabiótica, Via das Artes, 2006 Espólio, Tela.tv, 2013

Alexandre Orion (born 1978 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian street artist, multimedia artist and Muralist.

Alexandre Orion (born 1978) is a multimedia artist. He started his work under the influence of urban culture and the world of graffiti in 1992. Soon he stood out from the movement he was part of and started to interact with the city in quite a unique way. In his own words, “a city is not a gallery; cities are themselves full of meanings”. It is precisely these meanings, often subtle ones, that he works on by interacting with people passing by on the street to make them part of his artistic work, while researching techniques and exploring issues that a city will hide. Orion has held several solo exhibitions internationally. His works have been shown at venues such as Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Itaú Cultural, Centro Cultural da Caixa, and Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo in Brazil. Venues that have shown his works, or acquired pieces for their collections, include Foundation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Centrum Beeldende Kunst of Rotterdam, Itaú Cultural, Deustche Bank and Mad Museum in New York, the Milwaukee Museum, Fundação Padre Anchieta, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and Spencer Museum of Art.