Tag: grafitti

Postcard from Coimbra, Portugal: Street Art Series Continues

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The camera refuses to remain pocketed in the face of this form of unlicensed artistic (sometimes) expression.

With 20,000 students winding their way to and from classes at the University of Coimbra, walls are mercilessly targeted. Perhaps those black student cloaks too conveniently camouflage cans of spray paint.

Most of the results are scrawled immature sexual innuendos or screaming political manifestos, surely unwelcome to those who live behind the targeted walls. Few we encountered evidenced much underlying talent.

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Others in this series:

Postcard from Porto: Elevating Street Art

Postcards from San Miguel de Allende: Redirecting Grafitti Artists, Part Four

Postcard from San Miguel de Allende: Redirecting Graffiti Artists, Part Three

Postcard from San Miguel de Allende: Redirecting Grafitti Artists, Part Two

Postcard from San Miguel de Allende: Redirecting Grafitti Artists, Part One

Postcard from Oaxaca: Art of the streets

Postcard from Oaxaca: ‘Hecho’ street art invades museum’s colonial walls

Temporary art installations illuminate downtown storefronts

Postcard from Porto: Elevating Street Art

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We appear on a pilgrimage to follow celebrations of street art – Oaxaca this past fall and Colonia Guadalupe in San Miguel de Allende in February – but it’s purely coincidence.

Porto’s City Council multiplied those projects multifold by commissioning art for the streets and spread throughout seven floors of a surprisingly vacant building on the elegant and broad Avenida dos Aliados. According to the brochure for Street Art Axa Porto, the indoor/outdoor exhibition running from April 30 to June 1 is:

designed to pay homage to urban art, namely street art made in Porto. The combination of Porto-born artists and great international names will certainly highlight Porto and its renowned street artists, as far as national and international street art is concerned marking a beginning for other City Council’s projects related with this kind of artistic expression.

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We haven’t encountered many of the official outdoor projects, but we are operating with a map identifying only about every 10th street of Porto. Navigation is tricky in the historic center. While I might wander in circles for an hour seeking a specific dining destination, striking out for street art with the same enthusiasm is not in me. Seven flights of stairs and seven floors of graffiti and street art temporarily have quenched thirst for the art form. More old-school tiles, please.

 

Postcard from San Miguel de Allende: Redirecting Graffiti Artists, Part Three

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Part One

Part Two

The murals completed during this past year as part of Muros en Blanco have altered the appearance of the neighborhood, increased the sense of shared community and possibly changed the lives of some of participating youths.

Tourists traditionally have remained in the Centro Historico of San Miguel de Allende or ventured only as far out as Fabrica la Aurora. Some of them now stroll into the heart of Colonia Guadalupe in search of the murals and studios of artists working in the neighborhood. The dining rooms of Via Organica are packed.

And, most importantly, there is an added layer of communal interaction among expats living there and Mexicans whose families have resided in Colonia Guadalupe for generations.

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And more murals are on the way this month as part of the second festival. But this spring’s festival is about more than art. Part Four will be posted soon.