Vitche

Vitche is a painter, sculptor and graffiti artist from São Paulo, Brazil. Having grown up scribing the city streets, he has developed a diverse style unlike any other. He describes himself as abstract, political, and lyrical, and equates his artistic process with that of being alive. Vitche uses his work to fill voids and change what he does not like in a given setting. He allows his materials and the urban environment to inspire him, whether he is working in the streets or in his studio. Each setting provides a different perspective as he lets his imagination create a visual reality with accompanying narratives.

Vitche’s distinctiveness is perhaps most evident in his subject matter; shying away from the hip-hop aesthetic so prevalent in graffiti, he is strongly influenced by the cultures of Polynesia, the Aztecs, and the Brazilian Indians, as well as the potent but playful symbolism of the circus. As a child, Vitche used found objects like wood, canvas, and metals to create new pieces and stories, which he still does to this day. The essence of materials and color is paramount in his work. Transforming materials from one state to another, using found wood objects from the street, he expands the connection between the material’s origin, urban environment, and new medium. Red, black, and white often dominate his work, emblematic of the trifling nature of life. Green is also frequently present, representing the void of such color in city streets. Many of his figures are masked, demonstrating the shallowness and insincerity of most human beings. Through such techniques and his simple but powerful imagery, Vitche reveals his concern for modern society and its rapid development and change.

Vitche’s work is internationally recognized – he has taken part in many group and solo exhibitions in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. In March, 2007, an exclusive interview with Vitche was published in Juxtapoz magazine. Most recently, Vitche has exhibited in Urban Panel Project (Cuba), Scion Gallery (LA), Upper Playground (San Francisco), Jonathan Levine Gallery (NY), and The Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art (LA).To Vitche, making art is synonymous with being alive. Growing up tagging the streets of Sao Paulo in the early 1980s, Vitche continues to use the urban landscape as a canvas for his ideas. He favours an abstract, lyrical technique to emphasize the contrast of natural elements within the harsh man-made cityscape. Defining himself as a political artist, Vitche blends key thematic elements into his artwork, connecting it to a collective social consciousness. His art touches on the notion of survival and instinct; what he believes to be “forgotten feelings swallowed by the great dragons of civilization”.

Not wanting to limit his range of expression, Vitche uses a variety of media including illustration, wood carving, sculpture, photography and canvas. His work is recognizable on an international level, and has been exhibited throughout South America, the United States and Europe.