Chico (born 1985/1986) is the pseudonym of an anonymous Egyptian

street artist A street artist is a person who makes art in public places. Street artists include portrait artists, caricaturists, graffiti artists, muralists and people making crafts. Street artists can also refer to street performers such as musicians, acrob ...

and graffiti artist whose work has gained popularity and notoriety in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

following the

2011 Egyptian Revolution The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...

Career and artwork

Chico claims not to have studied art formally, although he now teaches it. He has said that he has always been "interested in graffiti and stencils in particular." Chico has stated that he works with stencils because they are "fast and safe." During the days of the revolution, he and fellow Egyptian graffiti artist El Teneen spray painted stencils on surfaces in public spaces, such as lampposts and walls, in downtown

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

. However, these stencils were often quickly identified by security forces and removed, sometimes within minutes. Since the 2011 revolution, Chico's work has been noted for its political content and criticism of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or SCAF, which as ruled the country since the February, 2011 resignation of former president Housni Mubarak. He said during the February revolution that contemporary political events had led to the politicization of his artwork, stating that " work has not always addressed the political situation. I have expressed a variety of issues, including social grievances, on the streets of Cairo and Alexandria. But the Egyptian government does not want to differentiate between political and non-political messages. They are not welcomed by the government, regardless of the topic."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chico Egyptian contemporary artists Egyptian graffiti artists Pseudonymous artists Living people Year of birth uncertain 1980 births

Career and artwork

See also

References