the street is our gallery

Portraying the beauty of the ocean with environmental messages has always been part of artist Hilton Alves’ goals. Recently in Kahuku, Hawaii, the artist repainted one of his murals from the 101 Perfect Waves Project. The mural includes trash collected from beach cleanups such as plastic bags and wrappers. Entitled “The Wave of Consumption”, this new mural aims to show ocean pollution by combining art with environmental responsibility. The mural depicts an inside view of a perfect wave over a shallow coral reef, where you can see the plastic as part of the wave’s movement.

With a total of 41 murals completed since 2013, Alves has plans to paint more walls with the goal to inspire people to preserve lakes, rivers, and oceans.

Self-taught, Alves was born in Santos-SP, Brazil, and began painting in 2000, in the city of Guarujá-SP. He was involved in water sports, such as surfing, stand up paddle-boarding, bodyboarding, and swimming. Alves uses his experiences at sea as inspiration for his artwork.

Living on Oahu since 2007, Alves has painted ocean themed murals in local schools which included participation from students and the community. In October 2013, he created the 101 Perfect Waves International Mural Project. His first mural was painted in Honolulu, Hawaii, as the largest wave mural in the world. After that, he painted murals across the U.S. in Maui, Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston, Orlando, Miami, and countries like Brazil, Israel, and Singapore.

Photos By: Deco Alves