Best Street Art in LISBON – Part III: Moscavide

This is the third and last part of the murals I saw during my recent trip to Lisbon. Already in some of my past posts on urban art, I took you to some rather inhospitable neighborhoods. Whether the 13th Arrondissement of Paris, Copenhagen’s Nordvest neighborhood, or the satellite town of San Pablo in the northeast of Seville – hardly any sightseer makes his way to these places on the outskirts of Europe’s glittering metropoles.
And in Lisbon, too, you have to leave the picturesque historic old town and roam through high-rise developments like Moscavide to see some of the best street art the city has to offer.

Moscavide

Strictly speaking, Moscavide is no longer part of Lisbon but a municipality in the Loures district, which directly borders the Portuguese capital. Due to rising real estate prices in the capital and the expansion of the Linha do Norte railway line, the population in the area, which is only around one square kilometer in size, has risen sharply in recent decades.

You couldn’t build in width, so you construct in height: Today, large parts of Moscavide consist of soulless high-rise developments with the obstacles and problems common to all such housing projects. Moscavide is only about twenty minutes from the historic center and yet worlds apart. Coming from the airport, almost all passengers pass through Moscavide at least once, as the area is only two metro stops from Lisbon’s airport.
Yet hardly anyone gets out there.
Below I’ll show you what all these transients are missing out on.

Rocket01

Chris Butcher aka Rocket01 is based in the English city of Sheffield. Even before he graduated with a degree in fine arts, his works of art were admired in his hometown. Today they can be seen in Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, and Greece, among others.

The artist, who has been active in the street art scene for more than 20 years, has found his own unmistakably surreal style of portraiture.

Colectivo RUA

Since Colectivo RUA, hence, the so-called street collective, is a merger of various street artists such as THE CAVER, FEDOR, MESK, Frederico Draw, and a few others, only the true connoisseur can often discover who was involved in the respective piece.

This bunch of highly talented gentlemen have cooperated for more than a decade, and their work can be found all over Portugal.

I’m introducing another mural by Colectivo RUA in my post Best Street Art in Porto.

Juanjo Surace

Juan Jose – or Juanjo for short – Surace is an artist from Argentina. He is a master of 3D animation and illustration. He is known for his grotesque imagination, his dark humor, and his caustic criticism.

As a 20-year-old, Surace became passionate about animation and taught himself to develop characters. He learned enough to be hired by a production company, where he worked on films, series, and commercials for 15 years. He later passed on his knowledge by teaching at two universities.

During all these years he continued to develop his personal style. Surace was in his 40s when he discovered street art. Painting outdoors and interacting with other artists, far away from the academic and commercial environment, led him to dedicate himself to mural painting.

Eelco van den Berg

Eelco van den Berg grew up in Uden, a small village in the Netherlands. He has been drawing all kinds of animals already from an early age. In 1986, he finally discovered graffiti and hip-hop culture.

He studied illustration and quotes a range of very different artists as his inspiration and influence. Yet, the artist is known for psychedelic scenes in a bold color palette.

Ever since he created a cat in Berlin back in 2013, he somehow got stuck with portraying quirky animals.

Nark CPK

Nark CPK is known primarily in his home country of Portugal but also in Morocco for his vibrant and expressive murals. He creates large-format murals in vibrant colors. He comments artistically on topics from society and culture.

His works combine realism with urban aesthetics and can be admired in various cities. Although Nark CPK is still active in the field of urban art, his current focus is on creating
Tattoos.

Pedro Podre

Pedro Podre was born in Porto, where he still lives and works. There he completed his studies in fine arts at the Faculty of Fine Arts.

He is known for his allegorical illustrations of characters that he captures in his large-format murals and also smaller paintings.

In his works, Pedro Podre often combines social themes and designs them with caustic humor in strong, lively colors. He has a distinctive illustration style characterized by bizarre, quite disturbing characters and surreal elements. His distinctive imagery stands definitely out in the urban art scene.

Mabel Vicentef

Mabel Vicentef began her career as a set designer for cinema, television, and social events. She enjoyed creating large immersive spaces. That was the initial spark for her entry into the world of street art.

Today, Mabel Vicentef is known for her large-scale murals that combine realism with fantasy and often depict women. Her work can be admired not only in Argentina, but also in Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Spain, Uruguay, and the USA.

MOTS

The artist duo MOTS consists of Diogo Ruas from Porto and Jagoda Cierniak from the Polish city of Opole. Diogo is an illustrator and painter and has been creating street art since 2000. Jagoda Cierniak, on the other hand, is a photographer and coordinates artistic and social projects. They have been working together since 2017, with their work primarily consisting of murals, paintings, and interdisciplinary projects.

MOTS’ work can now be seen in almost 30 European cities and they have been involved in the most important street art institutions and festivals such as URBAN NATION in Berlin, the STRAAT Museum in Amsterdam, and Calle Libre in Vienna.

I’m introducing another work by the duo MOTS in my posts Best Street Art in Porto.

Stom500

Thomas Locatelli aka STOM500 was born near the Swiss city of Basel. He trained as a graphic designer, but expanded his portfolio to include illustration and graffiti. His style is heavily influenced by cartoons. Whether on large walls or small canvases, Stom500 likes to use different media and styles for fun animal motifs, but with which he conveys social and ecological messages.

Because he works with spray paint as well as acrylic, Stom500 jokingly describes himself as an artistic Swiss army knife.

On Instagram

To dig deeper into the subject and see more of the amazing art the above-featured artists have created, you can just check out their Instagram accounts:

How to Get Around

Lisbon has very well-developed public transport. There is a metro, buses, and the legendary
trams. Due to the geographical conditions, public transport in Lisbon also includes elevators and ferries. You can use public transport with your credit card or with the so-called Navegante card. The small paper card costs 50 cents once and can then be topped up with a credit or various tickets.

With so-called zapping, you load a credit of your choice from 3 to 40 €uros onto the Navegante card and can use it for all means of transport.

Which Ticket to Buy

If you travel more than four times a day, a 24-hour ticket for 6.80 €uros is worth it. You can also load several 24-hour tickets onto the card at the same time. They will then work seamlessly one after the other. Also remember that each day ticket includes the Santa Justa elevator, where just a single ride already sets you back 6 €uros, as well as the legendary Bica Funicular. There is also a version including the ferry for 9.80 €uros. Another one for 10.80 €uros includes trains for example to Sintra and Cascais.

On the subway and regional trains, you must scan the card at the entrances before boarding and after getting off while in trams and buses, you only have to hold your card up to the reader when you get on, but you don’t have to check out again.

An alternative is the Lisboa Card, which is available for 24, 48, or 72 hours. You can use public transport and also receive free entry to 40 attractions in Lisbon. You can find out more about this in my post Best of Lisbon.

To get to Moscavide, you can simply hop on the metro vermelha, hence, the red line.

My Tip

Moscavide is a bit off the city center. As a matter of fact, the neighborhood is only two stops from the airport. So if you don’t have heavy luggage, you can squeeze in a visit to this area on the way from or to the airport. In the latter case, be sure to plan enough time for your tour, I’d suggest one to two hours. It would be really stupid if you missed your flight because you were blinded by Moscavide’s street art.

Map

This map should help you find the murals I’m introducing in my posts on Street Art in Lisbon. However, I split it into three layers: One for Graça and other parts of the city center, a second one for Marvila, and finally this one for the Moscavide neighborhood. This way, you can open them separately.
Clicking on the slider symbol at the top left or the full-screen icon at the top right will display the whole map including the legend.

Looking for urban art was only one of the awesome things I got to do during my visit to mesmerizing Lisbon. In my post Best of Lisbon, I take you on a comprehensive city tour. And if you happen to be in transit, check out my guide 24 hours in Lisbon.

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