December 3, 2017
“PHOENIX OF METAL”
by Nunca
Designed in the 1930s the Douglas DC-3 revolutionized air transport and is still in use more than 80 years later, especially in parts of the world where runways may not always be paved. The majority were originally manufactured as the military C-47 but a number of C-117 variants were also produced and several of those have found their way to the Pima Air and Space Museum, the largest non-government-funded aviation museum in the U.S. In 2010 gallery owner Eric Firestone conceived the Boneyard Project, originally inviting urban artists to paint nose cones and then in 2011 to start painting complete planes for the Pima museum. One such C-117 was painted by Brazilian Francisco Rodrigues da Silva, aka Nunca (“Never” in Portuguese) who began spray painting in his poor São Paulo neighborhood as a symbol of rebellion. Today Nunca’s work has become far more elaborate and has been displayed in galleries and museums around the world. @nunca.art @ericfirestone @pimaairandspace @pimaair








