Article by Nathan Walters, American journalist based in Rio de Janeiro writing about urban and contemporary art. Former lawyer, current Copacabana bum enjoying the beauty and chaos of Rio.
In Russ Meyer’s 1965 cult classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Varla, one of the well-endowed strippers wreaking havoc in the desert, utters a phrase that sums up the spirit of youth: I never try anything, I just do it. Almost thirty years later, the ghoulish cult rock band White Zombie used the audio clip in its full-throttle anthem “Thunder Kiss ’65,” re-introducing the statement to a new generation of the young and reckless.
Twenty years on, a group of three young illustrators from Goiás, Douglas de Castro Pereira, Victor Rocha and Renato Cunha, working as Bicicleta Sem Freio (Bicycle Without Breaks), have created a visual concoction that mixes Meyer’s obsession with the female body, White Zombie’s monster rock image, and a heady dose of concert poster art from the 1960s onward. The result is a sleazy, beautiful treat that will leave your neck sore, head aching and that internal untamed voice of youth begging for more.
Each of the artists has their own unique style and all produce incredible work, but it is Pereira’s creations that stand out like the accidental love child of some hallucinogen-fueled orgy involving the works of Stanley Mouse and Patrick Nagel, Guns n’ Roses’ groupies, and a vat of Day-Glo.
Speaking from Barcelona, where the Black Drawing Chalks had just performed at Primavera Sound, Pereira said he has been dedicating more time to his visual art and plans to move his whiplash aesthetics to canvas soon. “The commercial work pays the bills and allows me to keep drawing things I like, keeps my personal projects going. I have yet to abandon the market to dedicate myself to the life of an artist,” Pereira says.
Pereira’s obsession with art started with the works of Toulouse-Lautrec and Mucha, but was soon re-directed to the works of modern illustrators like R. Crumb, Coop, Charles Burns and Frank Miller.
Those illustrators’ influence can be seen in gig posters made by Pereira for bands like the Motörhead, Nashville Pussy and the Eagles of Death Metal—all bands that Black Drawing Chalks has shared the stage with—but there is a striking originality to his work that has already grabbed the attention of rock promoters and art collectors.
Perhaps it is the psychedelic scenarios masterfully depicted in Pereira’s work—heavy on busty, scantily clad females or beer guzzling rockers sporting mullets—that fans find so fascinating. Or maybe his style speaks to society’s continued obsession with the rock n’ roll debauchery (who doesn’t harbor Rolling Stones circa 1972 fantasies?).
Whatever the reason, more people are paying attention to what Pereira is doing… and at the same time fighting the urge to throw up a pair of devil’s horns.
All illustrations by Bicicleta Sem Freio. Copyright belong to the author. For further information visit bicicletasemfreio
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