2009 Smart fortwo - Art in an Urban Space

Art in an urban space: 275 m2 of smart urban art in São Paulo

smart and the creative network ROJO® initiate an art project in Brazil
Six artists from five countries add colour to the city

Stuttgart / São Paulo – At the invitation of smart and the creative network ROJO® a total of 275m2 of concrete in the centre of São Paulo have been transformed from grey to a multitude of colours. The urban art artists OVNI and Nuria Mora from Spain, Eltono from France, Brazilian Tony de Marco, Tofer Chin from the USA and Superblast from Germany have brightened up the city of 19 million inhabitants with their outsize murals. ROJO® Out by smart is the name of the art initiative with which smart is extending its activities in the area of urban creativity on the South American continent. The car brand has been active in Brazil since April of this year.

End of 20 September 2009 Tony de Marco put the final brushstrokes to the twelve-metre high ventilation shaft. A total of ten such shafts, used for ventilating car tunnels, were painted by the artists in a space of around three weeks. ROJO® Out by smart was supported by the city of São Paulo and made use of a special feature of the city: since 2007 advertising in public spaces has been forbidden by law. The unused spaces leave lots of room for creative and non-commercial projects. Internationally, São Paulo's scene also has a reputation for providing fresh impetus in the field of urban art.

Marc Langenbrinck, Managing Director of the smart brand and Head of Sales & Marketing at smart says: "smart's activities in the field of urban creativity put the spotlight on subjects such as the question of mobility and a sustainable lifestyle in large international cities. ROJO® Out by smart gives artists from various cities a platform to interpret these subjects in their own way, whilst at the same time adding colour to the "urban jungle" of the city with its 19 million inhabitants."

The art happening started parallel to the smart Urban Stage São Paulo, which took place from 27 August - 10 September 2009. The pop-up platform combined a gallery for urban art, a smart showroom, shopping and events relating to the themes of urban mobility, creativity and ecological sustainability – core aspects of the smart brand.