Tec hails from Córdoba and his stunning Ruta 9 project from 2010 aimed to beautify the derelict buildings alongside the abandoned Cordobese motorway, with the desolate geographic expanse providing an impressive backdrop.

And in the last year or so, the street art scene in Córdoba has been given a huge boost  thanks to the efforts of Kosovo Gallery, its first urban art gallery, co-run by the street artist Elian.

In addition to producing many wonderful exhibitions in the last year, Kosovo has also been instrumental in developing public art schemes, helping to establish the strong link between the gallery space and the streets and people of the city.

Puente (Bridge) is the title of their latest public art project which is supported by the local government and private sector. The idea of Puente is to use street art to encourage urban renewal. Alongside the painting of murals by the talented artists Martin Ron, Elian, Gualicho and Peter Quatrix, areas will be improved with more street lights, cleaner streets and better access for people with disabilities.

This is a great example of how artists, local councils and corporations can work together to beautify cities and in turn make the streets more enjoyable and secure environments.  In a country where street art is accepted and welcomed by the communities there is such great potential for harnessing artists talents and using street art to create positive urban change.

Kosovo will be sending out an open call for Argentine artists interested in participating in future editions of the project.

This time around Poeta teamed up with curator Lucas Zambrano to create an even more ambitious temporary art installation and gallery.  During the days leading up to the opening Pop-Up II: Lo Desconocido (The Unknown) was abuzz with activity as artists transformed massive walls and cavernous rooms with murals, installations and framed works. The event featured work from 30 different artists, including Kid Gaucho + Federico Felici, Mart, Dardo Malatesta, Pelos de Plumas,Amor, Ever, Jaz, Roma, Elian, Poeta, Nerf, Shonis, Cabaio Stencil, Corona, Trystan Bates, PumPum, Georgina Ciotti, and Zumi among others.

This edition of the pop up called upon the participating artists to challenge themselves creatively:

“Jump into the unknown, forget about everything we know.  A refuge is merely a place of security, and therefore a limited space where there are no surprises.  What we’ve already learned distances us from the adrenalin-filled uncertainty of throwing ourselves with abandon into the unknown.”

For artists accustomed to working outdoors, where their work is at the whim of the elements and the local public, the prospect of moving indoors could be viewed as an easy transition into a comfortable, controlled environment. The event sought to challenge this perception by encouraging artists to push themselves, maintain the ephemeral quality of their art and experiment in this new environment.

Artists responded to the challenge by testing out new materials, processes and innovative mediums. Ever created a massive mural of Chairman Mao which combined mural artwork with a delicate collage created using found materials – discarded paper and plastics. Mart created an interactive installation in the form of a wooden bicycle and rider which visitors could operate. Poeta created one of his beautiful geometric abstractions, adding strips of luminescent neon tape which gave a new dimension to the piece as the light faded.

Under a bright full moon the closing party stretched on into the early hours of the morning as artists, friends, family and neighbours from La Boca came together in a celebration of ephemeral and unconventional art.

Installations:

Kid Gaucho + Federico Felici / R3NDER + FIEND / SebaAcampante / Mart + Ale / DardoMalatesta

Mural Art:

Itu Plumas + Amor / Ever / Jaz / Roma / Elian / Malegría / Poeta / Nerf / Shonis / Cabaio / Pol Corona /

Exhibiting Artists:

Trystan Bates / Diego Roa / PumPum / Franco “Jaz” Fasoli / Rudi Caretti / Georgina Ciotti / Marina Zumi / Martín Lapalma / Yorke / Elian

Concept: Christian Riffel

Curation: Christian Riffel, Lucas Zambrano

This year Poeta has found a new location for the project – a beautiful period building in a secluded part of La Boca. For the past few days a host of artists have been working on the exterior and interior walls, creating murals, installations and gallery space for artwork and video works.

The opening event took place last Friday – giving visitors a chance to get to know the space, view some of the works in progress and a selection of gallery artwork on display.

Tonight (Wednesday, March 17th) is main event – the closing party, and the first and possibly only opportunity to see the completed installations and murals.

This will be one of the most impressive urban art events of the year. Do not miss!

We’ve travelled the length and breadth of the city, capturing the faded opulence and the urban sprawl, and we’ve met with political activists, experimental art collectives, graffiti writers and muralists.

It has been an intense and exhilarating experience, and we’re really happy with how the production is developing.

Here are a few stills from the last few weeks. If you’d like to follow the progress of the shoot we upload images to our tumblr at the end of each day of filming.

Photos from top:

Fede Minuchin of rundontwalk in Congreso / Poeta and Roma in Ballester /  Juan Carlos Romero and Ral Veroni  / Jaz and Ever in their studio / Ever / Malatesta in Hollywood in Cambodia / Corona and Nanook in Constitucion.

All photos by Michael Lockridge 

We were very proud to display works from Cabaio, Chu, Defi, GG, Gualicho, Jaz, Malatesta, Mart, P3DRO, Pastel, Pum Pum, Roma, Sam, Sonni, Stencil Land, rundontwalk & Tester. We transformed the elegantly designed space into a riot of colour and contasts, and were happy to host a packed opening night.

The show will be on for another week – if you are interested in visiting the show please contact us!

You can download a full artwork catalogue from the show here.

Our researchers have been digging through video & photographic archives for material which will bring Buenos Aires’ past to life. We have scouted locations, arranged interviews and diligently planned the logistics of the shoot. We have also been planning for the future, and working to secure the funding we need to take us beyond production.

Our crew are now assembled and ready, and we are about to begin eight weeks of intensive shooting, interviewing, shadowing and exploring. We’ve spent over two years working on this film, and it feels like everything we have done has been building up to this moment. We are unbelievably excited to get started, and we’ll be posting regular updates throughout the shoot both on this blog and on our White Walls Say Nothing Tumblr

It’s an incredible feeling, knowing that we are making this film thanks to your support. We couldn’t have got here without you, so once again – THANK YOU ALL!

graffitimundo & the white walls crew

(artwork in main image by rundontwalk)

Roa painted three pieces in Buenos during his stay. A partially skinned animal now hangs on the terrace above Hollywood in Cambodia gallery, a sloth occupies an abandoned building near the studio space shared by Jaz, Ever & Pastel, and during his last few days Roa and Ever painted a remarkable piece on the front of a squatted building in Palermo Viejo.

The collaborative piece is titled “The people feed communism to the beast”.

Roa paints animals which are native to the countries he visits and which hold a symbolic relevance to the context in which he paints, whilst Ever uses the aesthetics of Chinese propaganda to explore the relationship between ideological fantasy and reality.

The surreal image of Chairman Mao’s disembodied head being offered to an elephant seal is both visually arresting and intriguing in its symbolism.

See more from Roa on his flickr, and more from Ever on his website.

We’ve just a few hours to go until the end of the campaign, and would still love for more people to get involved. We still have amazing rewards to offer backers. Any additional funding we receive at this stage will go towards making the film even better. It will gives us more time to film, more resource to organize painting sessions and even more opportunities to connect with artists outside of Buenos Aires

Whilst Kickstarter is coming to a close, we will still be campaigning to raise funds for editing, animation, post production and all the things we need to do to sculpt the raw footage into a finished film.So we hope you will continue to spread the word! The more people we can involve in this project, the better it will be for their support

Gracias y abrazos a todos!

With his unique and intuitive visual style, Tester possesses a sense of creativity unaffected by conventional cultural and artistic norms. He incorporates a number of different styles and techniques into his work, combining his love of painting with stencil and screen printing.

Improvisation is essential to his process, and whilst Tester has filled dozens of sketchbooks, the majority of his paintings on canvas and found objects are created in the moment.

His most characteristic works are dense and explosive, and tend to straddle the boundary between figurative and abstract. Tester frequently integrates stamped words and lines of text into his pieces, but insists that there is no meaning to be found, or at least none encoded intentionally. Packed into his pieces are strange animals, bizarre faces and abstract phrases that hint at meaning but defy attempts to grasp it.

Here are some examples of Tester’s stunning work. Pledge $500 USD to the White Walls Kickstarter campaign and you’ll be rewarded with a medium format (50×70 approx) piece of original art.

For more information visit our project page: http://bit.ly/whitewallssaynothing

The talk will feature a series of discussions from key artists and academics. Participants are: Juan Carlos Romero, Ral Veroni, Claudia Kozak, Alfredo Segatori “Pelado”, Dano, Pastel, Jaz, Hollywood in Cambodia crew, FASE + DOMA.

For more information check out Malba’s page here.

At the end of the talk we’ll be presenting the trailer for our documentary “White Walls Say Nothing” which is the first film to explore urban art and activism in Buenos Aires.

Tickets are selling out fast so be sure to arrive early to secure a seat.

‘Paredes que Hablan’ Monday 22 October 6-8pm in the Malba, Av. Figueroa Alcorta 3415, Buenos Aires

Entry is $40 pesos or $20 for Friends of the Malba or students with ID

All proceeds go to the Constantini Foundation