Cheery ghosts of the Flesh Beck Crew

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Cheery multi-coloured ghosts, doll-like Japanese girls, strange zombie babies. If you’ve been anywhere in Rio you will almost certainly have seen the work of the Flesh Beck Crew. I think they’re the best and most consistent street art/graffiti crew in Rio. And they are prolific! 

 

Here you can see all three of Flesh Beck’s most common characters – the Japanese girl and cheeky ghosts on the right and the zombie baby on the left. At the very top you can see the freaky clown ball character. I think he may be the work of someone else but he is also very common.

 

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Cloudmen and Firebirds

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People who followed my travels through Latin America back in 2009 and 2010 may remember I am a little graffiti obsessed. Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Valparaíso (Chile) were particularly rich hunting grounds and I had a great time wandering around these cities, snapping away.

I guess this has been a habit of mine for a while – when I lived in London I was based in the East End which is also a good place to see great street art (There’s a lot of work by Banksy, Eine and a bunch of other people I don’t know – just because I like it, doesn’t mean I’m super-knowledgeable right?!).

I spotted this one in the San Telmo neighbourhood of Buenos Aires.

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Beautiful Ugly Rio

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In early July 2010 I found myself in Fortaleza in the state of Ceará (just up the coast from the tip of Brazil’s pointy nose). I had made my way by river and overland from the border with Colombia in the north but Rio, my final destination, was still a long way off. And after almost of year of living out of a backpack, staying in hostel dormitories, enduring long bus rides and even longer periods without clean clothes, I had started to crave a break. 

The approach to Santos Dumont at dawn



I booked a flight and flew into Santos Dumont, Rio’s domestic airport. Rio’s main international airport, Galeão International, is a long way out of town and in a very ugly area but Santos Dumont is far closer to Rio’s iconic attractions: Copacabana, Pão de Açucar (Sugarloaf Mountain) and Cristo Redentor (the statue of Christ the Redeemer). As you approach Santos Dumont you get an incredible view of these sights and you instantly understand why they call it A Cidade Maravilhosa (the Marvellous City). 

Take a chopper ride around the Rio of 1968 to the sound of Gilberto Gil’s Aquele Abraço. Not only a lovely song but also a fascinating view of Rio as it was in the 60s (and you have to admire the pilot’s nerves of steel!).


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