dialogue
Miguel Afa | Artist
October 2025
6 min read
Beginning his journey in the streets of Complexo do Alemão, Rio de Janeiro, Miguel Alfa sees graffiti as “the greatest painting school in the peripheries of the world.” His 24-year relationship with the walls of the city shaped a practice that extends beyond image-making into a way of producing thought.
Today, his studio work carries the weight of gesture, materiality, and memory, moving beyond the visual codes of graffiti while still rooted in the intensity of lived experience. Miguel describes his colors as “mental, immaterial, and metaphysical”, a palette of memory and affection that invites viewers into intimacy, care, and recognition.
His recent exhibition at Paço Imperial holds deep symbolic meaning: bringing the realities of Rio’s peripheries into an institutional space where diverse audiences, including public school students, can see themselves reflected. For Miguel, this exchange affirms that every brushstroke is both personal and universal, an embrace of memory, place, and humanity.
Miguel Afa. Courtesy of artist and A Gentil Carioca. Photo by Claudia Adorno.
How did your education at the School of Fine Arts (UFRJ) both challenge and complement your experience of painting in the streets of Complexo do Alemão?
“My introduction to visual arts began in 2001 through graffiti. In 2012, I started a degree in Painting at the School of Fine Arts (EBA/UFRJ) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) — a brief but meaningful period that broadened my understanding of painting and visual expression. Although I didn’t complete the degree, the academic experience left important marks on me that I came to recognize over time throughout my artistic journey.
I often say that graffiti is the greatest painting school in the peripheries of the world — and for me, that’s exactly what it was. I learned to paint in the streets, through a process that has lasted 24 years in an intense relationship (a love story) with the concrete walls that became my field of experimentation. They led me to the studio and helped to shape the body of a work that goes beyond the image: it’s also a way of producing thought.”
Installation view: O vento continua, todavia, 2025 Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 14 Jun - 10 Aug. Photo courtesy of artist and A Gentil Carioca. Photo by Pedro Agilson.
Has the transition from graffiti in the streets to institutional and gallery spaces changed your relationship with your work, or do you feel viewers receive your work differently?
“I have changed and transformed over time, and with that, my work has also transformed. The experiences and relationships I had in the streets were different from those I have today, because I was different — I was a different person. Time and life brought me new perceptions and influences that began to give form to my work through gesture, materiality and color.
Today, the language and identity I’ve been developing no longer follow the visual structure of graffiti. Although I still carry the stigma of being a “graffiti artist,” I now work within the dynamics of a painter: a studio-based routine shaped by institutional and market demands. I miss painting in the streets, but my current responsibilities don’t allow me to keep up with the more fluid and spontaneous rhythm of graffiti.
I get the feeling that much of the public that follows my current work has never seen my graffiti or mural production. Since they involve different languages and mediums, I believe that — in my case — they don’t share this visual connection.”
Miguel Afa, Um céu para caber, Oil on canvas, 180 x 200 x 3 cm, 2025. Photo courtesy of aratist and A Gentil Carioca. Photo by Pedro Agilson.
What does your solo exhibition at Paço Imperial signify to you, both symbolically and personally?
”The Paço Imperial is an important space in the art scene of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and being able to address, within an institutional environment, the subjects that run through my work carries a deep symbolic meaning in everything I’ve been building and reflecting on as an artist.
In Brazil, I understand public institutions as spaces of free access — places where people with diverse social and cultural backgrounds are welcome and, most importantly, that allow public school students to visit. Realizing that young people whose realities are narrated in my works have the opportunity to relate their existences and recognize themselves in them, to find themselves reflected in a work of art, brings me relief and the certainty that every gesture made with the brush in the studio was worthwhile.”
Miguel Afa, O primeiro amor deve ser o próprio, Oil on canvas, 50.5 x 70.5 x 3 cm, 2025. Photo courtesy of artist and A Gentil Carioca. Photo by Pedro Agilson.
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Do you perceive a difference in how your work is interpreted in Brazil compared to abroad?
”In my artist practice, the Brazilian territory is the main visual landscape I present. In this context, the emotional baggage that runs through my work is transformed into a universal language: we all carry memories and feelings, and we are capable of perceiving the world through shapes and colors.
The question is an interesting one, because we often treat the notions of “national” and “international” as opposites — but I believe that the language of affection has the power to break through those barriers, making these categories less antagonistic and more porous. After all, feelings and memories are human experiences that can be shared, regardless of origin.
I do believe that some works carry more specific meanings within the Brazilian context. In the series O Tremor e o Terroso (The Tremor and the Earth-Toned), for instance, I address the backyards of Rio de Janeiro and its multiple natures: the relationship between the people and their yards, the trees and fruits planted in these spaces, and how they were transformed by the introduction of concrete. Someone who hasn’t experienced that kind of experience may interpret the work differently, but I still believe it allows multiple readings, regardless of the viewer’s background.”
Installation view: O vento continua, todavia, 2025. Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 14 Jun - 10 Aug. Photo courtesy of artist and A Gentil Carioca. Photo by Pedro Agilson.
Your use of a soft, muted palette evokes a sense of memory. What emotions or narratives do your colours convey?
“The color I use is mental, immaterial and metaphysical. I believe that all spirituality is built from memory. I consider that my work tells stories both lived and imagined, everything that brings me comfort. I like to look at my painting and imagine that it embraces me, that the color invites me to come closer. And because it is about memory, it is a memory that caresses.“
Miguel Afa, Versões de Junho, Oil and oil stick on canvas, 180 x 180 x 4 cm, 2024. Photo courtesy of artist and A Gentil Carioca. Photo by Pedro Agilson.
