Cranio working it during Art Miami week 2017
📍Location: 5th avenue
Neighborhoord: Wynwood
Artist: Fabio de Oliveira Parnaiba AKA Cranio
Nationality: Brazilian
Art Miami Week doesn't only fill convention centers and galleries. In the days leading up to the fairs, Wynwood begins changing too. Artists return to refresh existing murals, complete new commissions, and put the finishing touches on walls before the neighborhood welcomes visitors from around the world. It's one of the few times you can watch the creative process unfold in the street instead of inside a studio.
Cranio in Wynwood | Photo by Nadia Bouzid | Date: December 2017
Brazilian artist Fabio de Oliveira Parnaiba, better known as Crânio, was one of the artists working in Wynwood during Art Miami Week. His murals are immediately recognizable by their blue Indigenous characters, a signature he developed as a way of bringing attention to Brazil's Indigenous communities while commenting on the relationship between tradition, consumer culture, and the rapid transformation of cities.
Watching an artist work at this scale changes the way you look at the finished mural. From a distance, the wall appears effortless. Up close, it's a constant process of sketching, adjusting, layering paint, stepping back, and starting again. By the time the neighborhood fills with photographers a few days later, most people only see the final result. Seeing the mural while it is still being refreshed offers a different perspective.
Wynwood has always been about more than the finished walls. The neighborhood became known because artists from around the world were invited to leave their mark on restaurants, commercial buildings, galleries, and industrial spaces, turning the streets themselves into an outdoor collection of public art. During Art Miami Week, that process becomes visible. The lifts, the paint cans, and the artists become just as much a part of the neighborhood as the murals themselves.
These photographs document Crânio at work while preparing one of his Wynwood murals during Art Miami Week 2017.
Cranio in Wynwood | Photo by Nadia Bouzid | Date: December 2017
Cranio in Wynwood | Photo by Nadia Bouzid | Date: December 2017
Cranio, Wynwood Miami
Photo by Nadia Bouzid
Art Miami 2017
About the Artist
Crânio is the artistic name of Brazilian street artist Fabio de Oliveira Parnaiba. He is best known for his blue Indigenous characters, which appear in murals throughout Brazil and internationally. His work often explores Indigenous identity, urbanization, consumer culture, and environmental issues through colorful, large scale public art.