Taking the white cube: reflections on the entrance of pixação into the art world

ABSTRACT

The article describes and analyzes the entrance of pixação into the art world. By reconstructing situations that contributed to this transit, we show that the stigma and criminalization of this practice in the public sphere did not prevent its gradual admission into certain artistic circuits. Although the artification process of pixação involves different events and social actors, we argue that it results largely from strategies triggered by pixadores themselves. As they occupy the city's surfaces, they occupied the art worlds to find their own place. The reflections presented are based on research on urban art carried out between the years 2017 and 2021, which resorted to analyzing documents and in-depth interviews with a set of social actors involved in this context.

KEYWORDS:
Pixação; urban art; ratification; art worlds; São Paulo