Peace Activist Artist Eduardo Kobra Shows That Yoda Of ‘Star Wars’ Wants To Stop Wars
In a little over a week, the wait will finally be over for fans of The Force. Within that time, the seventh episode in the Star Wars Franchise, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, releases at the box office across the nation. It will be an infamous day in theaters given the fact that pre-orders for the movie’s release not only sold out in a matter of minutes but also crashed movie ticketing sites like Fandango.
At this moment, Star Wars fans still have over a week to wait until Star Wars: The Force Awakens releases. Until then, it seems as if Disney is doing all they can do to promote the upcoming film’s promotions. For example, Disney wanted Star Wars: The Force Awakens to appeal to the East Asian markets. Ergo, they collaborated with members of SM Entertainment’s K-pop idol boy group EXO to bring fans the song “Lightsaber.”
Though Disney has the means to promote Star Wars: The Force Awakens successfully on their own, it doesn’t mean the franchise’s fandom will stand back and not do their part. With that in mind, street artist Eduardo Kobra jumped on the fandom bandwagon to not just create another masterpiece, but to also promote his personal reflections in support of peace. Kobra did this by painting Yoda holding a sign that reads “Stop Wars.”
According to Huffington Post, the famous Grand Jedi Master who trained up Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker was transformed into a multi-colored peace activist. Yoda was painted alongside one of the walls of a building located in Miami, Florida. Besides the prism-style checkering of color schemes used for Yoda’s facial visage, the other detail that stands out is the crossing guard stop sign he is holding that reads “Stop Wars,” in which its letters are stylized like the Star Wars franchise logo.
Given the fact that the street art depicts Yoda, it is apparent its superficial statement is a homage to the Star Wars Franchise as well as possible promotion for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However, the peace-rallying message (pertaining to the “Stop Wars” sign) may or may not be indicative of any current events. Since Eduardo Kobra is from Brazil, it could be linked to any situation happening in his country with the moniker of “war.” However, Kobra could be pointing out to the numerous other wars happening today such as the war on terror or the war on drugs.
Not all of Eduardo Kobra’s street art masterpieces project his activism, but all of them show off his artistry through vibrant colors. Many examples are shown on his official Instagram account which includes larger-than-life portraits of the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur, the Minions (attached above), Mount Rushmore, Albert Einstein, the skull held by Hamlet, the Thinking Man sculpture, and many other iconic figures in art and pop culture. Kobra does create original works of street art, but the aforementioned were listed simply because most people would recognize them.
For any art enthusiasts out there that want to see more of Eduardo Kobra’s work, plenty of his masterpieces can be viewed on his official website. As for Star Wars fans, Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in theaters on Friday, December 18, 2015, across the United States. Los Angeles will have an advanced premiere four days earlier.
[Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images]
