Street Art

I was reading an article in the online edition of the Windsor Star today about the terrible problem of graffiti and tagging in the LaSalle area.  Here in Argentina, at least in Buenos Aires and Cordoba, there is an entirely different view of street art, which is that it is art. Areas are marked off for artists to use, festivals are held where street artists can meet and work together.  A new market is being built in the north end of the city and the outside of the building is already marked off with a grid so that artists will be able to paint their works on the walls.  Most artists sign their work, often adding their email or flickr account so that potential customers can contact them.  Perhaps if street artists in Ontario were able to take their time and produce quality work then communities and artists would  benefit.

When the girls were here visiting us in Buenos Aires in October we went on the Buenos Aires Street Art Tour which was one of the top recommended activities on TripAdvisor and I thought I would be something that my artist kids would really enjoy.  Matt gave us a three hour guided tour and his knowledge and passion for the subject were amazing. 

Imagine my surprise when John and I moved to our new neighbourhood in Cordoba to find that we have great street art in our neighbourhood as well.  We didn't have that in Barrio General Paz or Nuevo Cordoba, or if it was there it certainly wasn't as noticeable as it is here. We have a great mural right across the street from our apartment and lots of great art in the surrounding blocks.

If you are in Buenos Aires, I highly recommend Matt's tour, but if you would rather do it yourself you can use an online street art map or go to El Mercado de Las Pulgas at the corner of Dorrego y Av. Alvarez Thomas.  The entire outside of the building is covered with great art and the inside is full of cool antique shops.

Here are some of my favourites from Buenos Aires:

 These two pieces are by Jaz whose works have the appearance of watercolours. For the minotaur painting he mixed dirt from the location with the paint.

This piece is a self portrait by the artist who organized the Street Art Festival. He certainly gave himself a prominent piece of landscape and painted himself as General San Martin, an Argentinian hero, with a spray paint can.

During the Street Art festival an electrical building donated their wall space to be used and painted the outside of the building black to make it more artist friendly.  Here are a few of the many pieces from the electrical building:

An artist, formerly from Buenos Aires, returned to spread his father's ashes.  While in BA for a few days, he painted this mural of his father's eyes.  Wow!

Amazing stencil work

Cool piece by Blu who also did this video outside the electrical plant.