I buy Trees

As with every self-respecting urban artist, Fabio de Oliveira Parnaiba from São Paulo, Brasil, has turned his nickname into his artist's pseudonym. Cranio means "skull", but also "smart". Like all the other urban artists from São Paulo worth their name, Cranio has come up with a typical signal colour for his characters. In his case, this colour is blue. Between the yellow of Os Gêmeos and the green of Finok, he has now created an important niche for himself. He openly admits that he is a great admirer of the aforementioned artists and that they have influenced him greatly.
As well as his typical signal colour, the colour blue has a further significance: Cranio uses it to represent the fate of Brazil's indigenous peoples, who he portrays in blue. His images show them in comical situations, most of which involve confrontations with trash products from companies such as McDonald's or Red Bull. Cranio therefore does not shy away from criticizing the same multinational companies other urban artists happily allow their projects to be sponsored by. Cranio’s work I buy Trees at the Völklingen Ironworks is a reminder of deforestation in the Amazonian rain forest, which is increasingly destroying the basis for the livelihood of the indigenous people.

Robert Kaltenhäuser