Wacky is wonderful. Self-expression is, of course, what makes the world of art so superbly rich. On this wacky (and I mean it in the best sense of the word) tip is Sixeart’s newest mixed-media-on-paper show in Sao Paulo, Sueñan las gallinas con ser humanas (The Hens Dream About Being Human), which has specially created a baker’s dozen of new works. The Barcelona-bred artist cut his teeth with graffiti in the ’80s, but went on to scale big heights — literally — when he joined Os Gemeos and JR for the Tate Modern’s Godzilla-sized street art spotlight last year. Incorporating the influence of classic Spanish artists into his urban-style work, this latest brood addresses mutating animals, which is the last theme in a series (the first two are “bad children with fringe” and “circuits.” Miro definitely comes to mind when you see his black, bold lines dividing yellows and reds, making his chicks hot, colorful little numbers. The exhibit runs at Rojo’s Artspace until Sept. 5, but you can shop the work here.

One of my fave mags because it consistently introduces me to a fountain of new music that I wouldn’t otherwise find unless I spent my free hours diggin’ in the crates and hanging out with vinyl heads, Wax Poetics’ current issue themed under Brazil (it’s a Brazilian summer!) is a treasure trove of interviews with some of the greatest legends of tropicalia and jazz, plus newbies making the grade. Cover star Gilberto Gil leads off articles with Airto Moreira, composer Arthur Verocai, L.A.’s Triorganico, singer Ceu (whose career has seen an incredible forward trajectory in the past few years), among others. This edition will surely be a collector’s edition, worth putting alongside all that vintage vinyl you have.

Mulheres Barbadas must have been working out their arms, but considering what we already know about them, they’re used to it. They’re a few steps beyond the starting line of five long days of live painting at Sao Paulo’s concept furniture store Micasa, where they’ll leave nothing—walls, tables, chairs, refrigerators, even owner Houssein Jarouche’s Mini Cooper—untouched with black marker. The duo, who take turns intertwining each other’s wacky drawings in magnificent detail, are streaming their intense art session on their site and told me they are already so productive that they’re running out of things to paint. In fact, it must not only be their arms that are tired but their brains too: they’re encouraging viewers to suggest what images they want them to put on the walls and furniture by adding the tag “#mulheresbarbadas” to Tweets. After Mulheres Barbadas reach the finish line, they’ll put the finished goods on for sale at Micasa. The walls will likely stay put though–the building’s schedule to be demolished in a few months. Tune in between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. Sao Paulo time to watch the fun unfold.

If you’re passing a newsstand in the next few days, look for the long-awaited Brazil issue of Juxtapoz. Guest curated by William Baglione—whose artists we always breathlessly talk about here—the hot special edition stars a slew of familiar names: Bruno 9li, Tinho, Calma, Choque Cultural, Os Gemeos and others. Baglione said he chose the artists based on a variety of styles, potential and experience. The cover artist is Herbert Baglione, William’s bro who counts Juxtapoz editor M. Revelli as a fan. The story goes that the issue originally was meant to be a spotlight on South American artists, but when they saw that most of the artists were Brazilian, Juxtapoz changed strategy and dedicated an entire issue to the well-deserving cast of lucky artists. Jump on this quick.

You’re getting the first look at Nike Sportswear in Brazil’s new pop-up store Canarinho in the Gallery of Rock in Sao Paulo and its accompanying Brazilian-produced line. Gallery of Rock is a multi-story behemoth of stores in the city’s decadent downtown dedicated to Brazilian alternative culture, from hip-hop to cosplay, so they couldn’t have picked a more appropriate place to launch the colorful boutique. Named after the pet name Brazilians gave to their national soccer team during the World Cup in which they wore yellow jerseys for the first time, the collection features local artists Don Torelly, Presto and Jurubis, whose takes are fun, animated visions on the classic Blazers and Dunk Lows, plus tees. Eduardo Saretta from Choque Cultural put together the creative team. See more photos after the jump, and if you gotta get your hands on these surely limited editions, hit up Maze in Sao Paulo.

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I just came across a wonderful short new film by Brazilian director Cisma, the result of the latest commission from Adobe’s very inspiring Adobe Artists project. With the strict rule that everything must be produced using only Adobe products—Creative Suite 4, in particular—Le Sens Propre continues successfully in Cisma’s trademark surreal style. We watch a little girl in her room throw dishes into a tidy and unbroken stack, tie her shoes but accidentally knot up her thumbs instead and see bunnies turn into colorful, soft pebbles. It’s a bit Alice in Wonderland meets Candyland; totally charming to the end. Amazingly enough, no 3-D software was employed in the making of the film. According to an interview with Motiongraphics, Cisma wanted “to create strange scenes and weird connections between elements of the story,” giving viewers the chance to be surprised. It’s this aspect that keeps you glued to the computer screen. Check the Adobe Artist site for other gems, including a short by another Brazilian filmmaker, Nando Costa.

In another well-curated proposal, Choque Cultural’s chronicling the art of text in Caligrafia, its latest exhibit. Jumping off from Chaz Bojorquez’s famous East L.A. tags, the show features a diverse array of styles from 40 international artists. Hardly anything is left out in this extensive visual history: Loomit’s 3-D letters, Atsuo’s glittery work, Retna’s engraved metalwork and seminal artist Billy Argel’s Brazilian skate contribution. Other big stars include L.A.’s own Saber and New York City’s KR. Media forms extend from painting to prints and photos. See a few pieces from the show online at the site. The show runs till June 27.

Ladies and gentleman: Our very own Sao Paulo correspondent Phuong-Cac is a now a published author. Hooray! Total Sao Paulo: A Guide To The Unexpected is out today! The book is all about, you guessed it, Sao Paulo– features maps, illustrations, a slang glossary (very important, man) as well as a curated list of the best restaurants, bars, clubs, shops, galleries, museums and other can’t miss things around the city.

All the photographs and illustrations featured inside are from talented people living in Sao Paulo– and launching with the book is a local listings site that will have magazine-style stories on Sao Paulo bands, artists, markets, and everything else you need to know about this amazing city.

Wanna celebrate the launch? Thought so. Head over to Carmichael Gallery in LA on Saturday, May 9th from 3-7pm and listen to performances by Andrea Ferraz, watch a capoeira demonstration, and hear DJ Marlon Fuentes play a special set of Sao Paulp legends. Not in LA this weekend? Just jump up and down on your bed after you’ve bought the book.

Congrats PC! Pictures of “inside the book” after the jump (looks fantastic)…

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Being an outsider sucks. We sometimes feature products on our site, like kicks, that are available only in Brazil, and we’re definitely guilty for making you salivate and yearn for them. Today we’re psyched to tell you about the launch in mid-May of MOMA’s Brazil Product Collection, a group of 75 Brazilian design goodies not found anywhere else in the U.S. One of the works featured is Estudio Manus, who we introduced here a while ago and has gone on to dizzying success since then. Also in the collection is a sushi bowl by design kings the Campana Brothers, a movable Centipede fruit bowl by Gustavo Engelhardt, Daniel Castelo and Diego Costi and a Dry Erase Wall Clock by Ricardo Saint-Clair (pictured)—MOMA exclusives, so ha, take that, Brazil, you can’t get these products over there. The products will be available super-close: at MOMA Design stores and on MOMA’s site. Which means for now, you don’t need to take an emergency Portuguese class to learn how to say “Can you buy these for me?”

Interesting things are happening in the sneaker/partnering news department this week. Run-DMC’s abandoned their Adidas loyalty to Nike by releasing a Nike+ running soundtrack. And on the heels of that is Vice Brazil’s launch with partner Converse in tow. Kicking off Tuesday is The Way We Run, a multi-track of events spanning art, music, fashion and skate in Sao Paulo, like a meet and greet with team skaters and DJ sets, all taking place at various high-profile places for six weeks. The event ends with a surprise show. I met Vice Brazil publisher Tony Cebrian a few months ago, who told me he has big plans for the Vice empire’s South American version of the free magazine, including featuring stories that will knock any generalizations of Brazil right out of the water. Look for a translated version of those stories to wind their way to your copy of Vice soon. I’m looking forward, just as you likely are, of seeing some Dos and Dont’s from below the Equator.

Coming from any great sneaker city, one would never expect to find something quite as unique as Maz in the tiny burg of Paraty, about four hours from Rio de Janeiro. Tucked away on one of the only paved streets in a town of cobbled lanes lies the tiny boutique offering various cuts of Maz’s soft top, rubber sole kicks in a hundred different color combinations. The basic laced design falls in line with the soccer trainer tradition, but ride like a pair of your most comfortable house slippers. Be sure to stop through if you happen to be trekking through Brazil, or check them out online.

If you’re any what of a beat head, you know all about 1992’s Brasilintime, a history-making documentary film by hip-hop photographer B+ linking old-school percussion legends with beatmakers of our time like Madlib and Cut Chemist, shot around Sao Paulo. With his Mochilla partner Eric Coleman—both brought the heralded concert series Timeless to L.A. and along with it Arthur Verocai— they just dropped a trailer for their newest project, Tradition in Transition: A Postcard from Cali. Focused around the making of Quantic’s record of the same name that comes out in July, they shot footage for the film in Colombia’s Cali and Buenaventura, where Quantic lives. The trailer gives a taste into the film’s juxtaposition of these cities’ everyday life and people with the music from this American-born artist. While the first thing most people still associate upon hearing Colombia is drugs and the FARC, check out the trailer for a refresh: It’s a great thing to see the concentration elsewhere for once.

In 2007, a tiny Brazilian sneakers blog started tapping into the kicks obsessions of its citizens, but as we are with most things, we were on their potential from the get-go. Two years later, it’s built up a veritable reader base, who head directly to it to hear first word on the country’s newest arrivals and to read the daily musings from some movers and skaters in the industry. Nike Brazil, one of its most ardent fans, has given it a flattering gift for all that dedication on its anniversary: to let it design its own Air Max 1 called the Lanceiro, making it the first model of this type to be designed by Brazilians. Pulling colorful cultural inspiration from the blog’s home state of Pernambuco, especially mangue beat, the state’s musical invention in the ’90s that mixes traditional maracatu and ciranda sounds with hip-hop and rock music, the Lanceiro is a real eye-catcher. Designer Fabricio Machado looked to the vibrant beads on the costumes of Pernambuco’s rural spearmen Caboclo da Lanca for the dots on the upper of the shoes and added in a speckled midsole to imitate mud from the state’s famous swamps. To switch things up a bit, the laces and inside soles are swappable for a version with the beadwork pattern. The site has full information in English on the development of the shoe including some amazing photos of Caboclo da Lanca, and promises to have information on where to buy the Lanceiro shortly. An inspiration picture after the jump.

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Though it’s already in a hot lipstick-red color, the spectacular sleekness of the Capacete E8 motorcycle helmet by Sao Paulo design firm Questto Design is a serious competitor for your attention. Winner of the 2009 IF Product Design Award in its category in Brazil, this sexy helmet made from plastic resin boasts flexibility: you can wear it open-visor or with the chin lifted to let in more air, which makes it seem like it’s completely open (in Sao Paulo, when they stop to make a delivery, motorcycle delivery guys will take their helmets off to the point that it’s holding only the crown of their head). It’s being put out by Brazil-based EBF helmet company and will likely only be sold within Brazil, but nevertheless, it gives out true border-jumping inspiration in the industry for a motorbike essential. Daft Punk might consider a change of headwear after seeing this hottie.

You could be friends with someone forever and think you’re all BFF — complete their sentences, tell secrets … all that wonderful stuff — only to find out one day during your usual Sunday soccer game that they can operate a fork with their toes and has been practicing it since you were both 14. I don’t know Thiago de Souza Queiroz very well because he’s super shy, but I would’ve thought that our mutual friends in Brazil would have dropped me at least some hint that he was such an amazing artist. His style’s clearly inspired by wood block printing and mosaic and geometric arrangements, but I also adore the more candid, still-life pieces. No doubt his talent has lead him to some work for Brazilian magazines, but he seems most comfortable when left to his own devices, as evidenced by the non-commercial, personal-works section of his site. At just 21 years old, Queiroz could still change his style, but we can already get a strong feeling of tranquility when looking at his art, even if it’s in the form of a sharp-clawed cougar. Inspiring.