Chelpa Ferro

Chelpa Ferro is a Brazilian visual arts collective formed in 1995 by artists Barrão, Luiz Zerbini, and Sergio Mekler. While they are renowned internationally in the contemporary art world, their work is intrinsically musical, often creating kinetic sound installations and performances using repurposed everyday objects and electronics. They describe their process as "chelpa," which means a noisy argument or racket, and "ferro," meaning iron, highlighting their use of metal and found objects to generate rhythmic, experimental soundscapes.

Their releases, like the tracks "Pesadelo Ambicioso," "Hip Hop," and "Ruim," are typically documentations or compositions derived from these sculptural installations, blurring the lines between visual art, noise, and percussion music. The group has exhibited and performed at major institutions like the São Paulo Biennial, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, championing a uniquely Brazilian and improvisational approach to sound art.