Graffiti artist in Sao Paulo paints world's largest mural

Sao Paulo, April 1 : One of the most internationally renowned street artists is meeting another great challenge by painting in Sao Paulo the world's largest mural, a record that he himself set last year in Rio de Janeiro.

At 5,742 sq. meters, the latest work by the Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra is in the process of covering the wall of a chocolate factory in the Sao Paulo metropolitan region, where the muralist has staked his claim to fame for more than a decade.

His new "canvas," 30 meters high and 200 meters wide, can be seen head-on from a busy highway that crosses the Sao Paulo municipality of Itapevi, Efe news agency reported.

On it Kobra, 41, is painting a scene of the cacao harvest in the Brazilian Amazon that includes a young Indian paddling a canoe loaded with cacao down a chocolate river.

"A photographer documented the Amazon and from the photos I developed 30 drawings to work up the final image," Kobra said. 

Kobra began his graffiti mural a month ago and will finish it in the next 15 days, a period during which he will have used a total of 3,200 spray cans of paint and many liters (gallons) of synthetic enamel ink.

The artist is out to break his own record, which made the Guinness Book of Records with the mural "Ethnicities: We Are All One," a gift to the city of Rio de Janeiro during last year's Olympic Games.

Kobra's next stop will be Malawi, where he was invited by the singer Madonna to paint inside a hospital two murals based on the iconic South African leader Nelson Mandela.

From there he will head to Murcia, Spain, and other European countries including Italy, Germany and Portugal.

He has left his mark around the world, with many works in the US but particularly in Sao Paulo, where he has immortalised in huge murals such eminences as the late pilot Arton Senna and famous architect Oscar Niemeyer.

"Sao Paulo is known for its diversity of styles and talents, which has made it into a true open-air gallery that is admired worldwide," Kobra said.