Panmela Castro

Rio de Janeiro / Brazil

Panmela Castro started her street art career tagging the walls of Rio de Janeiro, using the nom de guerre, ‘Anarkia Boladona’. Later on the trained artist turned professional, dropped the pseudonym and started painting colourful murals featuring portraits of women. Using mostly spray paint, Panmela, who is an active women’s rights activist, now addresses issues related to female sexuality and empowerment through her art. Castro’s work can be found on her collaboration with Urban Nation on Project M/10 in 2016. […]

Biography / Panmela Castro

Panmela Castro started her street art career tagging the walls of Rio de Janeiro, using the nom de guerre, ‘Anarkia Boladona’. Later on the trained artist turned professional, dropped the pseudonym and started painting colourful murals featuring portraits of women. Using mostly spray paint, Panmela, who is an active women’s rights activist, now addresses issues related to female sexuality and empowerment through her art. Castro’s work can be found on her collaboration with Urban Nation on Project M/10 in 2016.

Having experienced domestic violence herself, Castro’s main areas of interest centre around women’s rights and violence against women. Her work, low on words but heavy on message, shows strong, feminine portraits and bodies without sexualising them. Instead they enter into a dialogue with the urban landscape and question the status quo of sexuality and binary gender.

In a male dominated environment, Panmela has managed to stand out by creating extremely powerful artworks, which have earned her the name of ‘Brazil’s Graffiti Queen’. Castro holds a Masters degree in Contemporary Artistic Processes and graduated in painting. She lives and works from Rio de Janeiro.

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