Hotels-live.com - “For me, graffiti only exists if it’s illegal, related to activism, education or other social projects,” says São Paulo artist Rui Amaral (@ruiamaral_). Considered one of Brazil’s graffiti pioneers, Rui began his work as a graffiti artis

Hotels-live.com - “For me, graffiti only exists if it’s illegal, related to activism, education or other social projects,” says São Paulo artist Rui Amaral (@ruiamaral_). Considered one of Brazil’s graffiti pioneers, Rui began his work as a graffiti artist over 40 years ago when he was a young teenager, where local police often chased him off. By the time he was 20, his art became a means of activism. “I started doing graffiti to protest against the social conditions of Brazilians living in a dictatorship,” he says. Nowadays, Rui has channeled his passion for activism and graffiti into creating one of Latin America’s largest street art murals. The project, found along 23 de Maio (#23demaio) highway in São Paulo, is a combined effort of more than 450 artists and sprawls over 5,000 square meters (53,800 square feet). Rui compares the collaboration of street artists to effortless jazz improvisation: “It’s very common for different artists to meet up without a plan and end up painting a mural together.” Photo by @ruiamaral_ @Hotelslive by instagram instagram.com/p/zA078nBQQb/ Follow instagram @Hotelspaschers instagram.com/hotelspaschers and @Voyageslive #Twitter #TeamFollowBack #Instagram #Voyage #Travel #TFB #FollowTrick www.facebook.com/125048940862168/photos/a.801853623181693... via Hotels-live.com www.facebook.com/pages/p/125048940862168 #Retweet #TeamFollowBack #F4F #TityFollowTrain via http://flic.kr/p/qSzbdq