eduardo kobra paints 3,000 square meter mural for the rio olympics

eduardo kobra is attempting to set the world record for the largest mural created by a single person. coinciding with rio’s 2016 olympic games, the brazilian street artist has painted a mural on a vast 190-meter-long wall in the city’s formerly run-down port area. reaching a total height of 15.5 meters, and measuring an area of almost 3,000 square meters, the work illustrates five faces from five continents — a theme which responds to the olympic rings. 

photo courtesy of eduardo kobra

eduardo kobra’s mural is entitled ‘etnias’ — or ‘ethnicities’ in english. approximately 100 gallons of white paint, 1,500 liters of colored paint, and at least 3,500 cans of spray paint were used to complete the composition, where kobra’s team have been working for at least 12 hours a day for the past two months.

the huge painting forms an important part of the ‘olympic boulevard’ — a three kilometer strip that includes big screens, live music, and nightly firework displays. the centre-piece of the revitalized region is praça mauá, a district that contains santiago calatrava’s recently opened ‘museu do amanhã’ (museum of tomorrow).

photo courtesy of rio 2016/paulo mumia

‘I was really happy I got to display my work here in rio de janeiro,’ kobra told rio 2016’s official website. ‘this was something I have wanted to do for a long time. we’re living through a very confusing time with a lot of conflict. I wanted to show that everyone is united, we are all connected.’ 

photo courtesy of eduardo kobra

photo courtesy of eduardo kobra

 

A video posted by Eduardo Kobra (@kobrastreetart) on Aug 1, 2016 at 1:50pm PDT

photo courtesy of rio 2016/paulo mumia

photo courtesy of rio 2016/paulo mumia

photo courtesy of rio 2016/paulo mumia

photo courtesy of rio 2016/paulo mumia

photo courtesy of rio 2016/paulo mumia

photo courtesy of rio 2016/paulo mumia

photo courtesy of rio 2016/paulo mumia

photo courtesy of eduardo kobra

photo courtesy of eduardo kobra

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