Sao Paulo , Brazil ( CNN ) -- For many it 's the adrenaline , the thrill of scaling buildings to scrawl their gang 's signature in huge black letters from the highest point possible . For some , it 's also political -- a way to leave their mark on a city they feel has turned its back on them . They are Sao Paulo 's pixadores or taggers , marginalized youth who prowl the streets late at night armed with paint cans and rollers . They have defaced buildings with Celtic-looking lettering across downtown and along many of the city 's main roads . `` Where I come from , the only way to get famous is being a professional football player or drug dealer , '' says Cripta Djan , one of the city 's more outspoken pixadores and gang leaders . `` The other way is with pixacao . '' Just do n't call it graffiti . Djan says pixadores do n't want to be pigeonholed as graffiti artists and are n't interested in beauty . Instead , he says they are rebels who want to defy authority and break the law . `` It 's class warfare , '' he says . `` Our society is very capitalist . You 're only worth what you own . With pixacao you can invert the values . You do n't have to have money to be recognized . You just need paint and you can write your name all over the city . '' Pixadores live in poor suburbs but their preferred target is seedy , downtown Sao Paulo , where visibility is guaranteed . They say that in the wealthy neighborhoods their signatures would disappear in a day . They leave their mark on bridges and underpasses , invade abandoned buildings to gain access to the top floors and scale skyscrapers by climbing from one window frame to another . Some have fallen and died . See how Kenyan artists target corrupt politicians . Pixacao emerged in the 1980s in Sao Paulo , a sprawling city of 20 million people where the division between rich and poor is vast . Pixacao has since spread to other cities in Brazil . Well-known pixadores like Djan have participated in international art events but they invariably end up sparring with organizers . `` If there 's no transgression , it 's not pixacao , '' says Cripta , who recently defaced a church in Berlin when he was invited to give a workshop at the Bienal there . While pixadores have fascinated art afficiandos , they do n't necessarily have many fans among the rest of Sao Paulo 's population . `` Those guys are vandals , '' an office worker says . `` We were better off under the dictatorship when at least a minimum of order was maintained . '' `` We should have harsher laws and better education , '' another woman says . On Thursday nights , hundreds of pixadores converge on a street in the center to brag about their latest feats and plan their next targets as they drink beer and smoke cigarettes and marijuana . They spray the names of their gangs on walls and compose rap songs , about everything from Brazil 's consumer society to Bob Marley . They are mostly young men , but a few women are also active pixadores . A young mother and student , Michelle says she formed a gang with eight other women . `` It 's adrenaline , art , freedom of expression , '' she says . `` You have an idea and you want to rebel . ''
Art and law breaking is part of the same recipe for Brazilian street artists . Pixadores or taggers scale Sao Paulo 's tallest buildings to get their message across . Pixadore Cripta Djan says the art must have 'transgression ' -- often a broken law . They see art as one of three ways to make their name -- soccer or drugs are the others .