On a sunny Friday evening, we passed by Avenida Marechal Gomes da Costa. By bike, of course, and coming from Alvalade. After dodging one or two rotten sacks that had scattered fruit all over the bike path (a danger to cyclists), we bumped into Los Pepes. Meggie Prata and Francisco Lea were back on the gray "wall" of the bike path, spray bottle in hand and mask on, with a very clear objective: give it color.
During the first half of June, Los Pepes' office was in Marechal Gomes da Costa. Every day, from early in the morning until late in the evening. Weekends included. They observed the diversity of users of the bike path and told Lisboa Para Pessoas that they were surprised by its use: they hadn't expected to see so many people. At the crack of dawn, the Bicycle Trains with children on their way to school, throughout the day several commuters and some sports; on Saturdays and Sundays families go for a walk.
In order to make their presence more visible, especially to those who were going downhill and thus at a higher speed, they improvised with the car's triangle.
Los Pepes were the only ones there working that Friday afternoonBut the New Jersey (the technical name for the "wall") on Marechal Gomes da Costa had the intervention of two other artists: the Nuno Alecrim and the set Malibu Ninjas. Each artist or collective was given a stretch of several meters to work on - in all, the urban art extends over 2.2 km, corresponding to 600 square meters of total area.
Los Pepes told Lisboa Para Pessoas that the people who passed by stared and asked questions; some even called the police, they say, thinking the paintings were illegal. As for negative comments about the controversial bike path, they said that there were none and that this is something that only exists on Facebook.
The mural on Marechal Gomes da Costa can now be enjoyed by all cyclists and pedestrians who pass along the avenue, which connects to the river and crosses Olivais, linking to the Alvalade and Areeiro areas. The artwork is finished. In the last few days, 1st cycle students from Agrupamento de Escolas de Santa Maria dos Olivais gave a helping hand to Los Pepes, Nuno Alecrim and Malibu Ninja, and Miguel Gaspar, Lisbon City Council's councillor for mobility, also joined in.
