On walls throughout the city you can find huge portraits of former lovers and his brother. More curiously you can also find portraits of Chihuahua dogs, Chairman Mao and a crack dealer from Los Angeles called Miguel, whose police mugshot on google images caught Ever’s eye.

A four metre portrait begs some questions. The most obvious being “why is this here and what does it mean?”

This is part of what we love about Ever’s work. He plays with expectations of what public art is supposed to represent. A four metre portrait of Ever’s brother usually leads people to conclude that he must be dead, and the painting is an homage. A huge mural featuring the face of Chairman Mao leads people to assume that the artist has a political agenda. And the smirking profile of Miguel the crack dealer leaves people wondering who this character is, and what he has done to merit being beautifully recreated at scale.

A recent trip to Mexico has left Ever inspired by the power of muralism, and looking for new ways to interact and communicate with the public through his paintings.

Following on from his portraits of Chairman Mao, his latest piece uses a visual aesthetic found in Chinese propaganda posters. The piece counterpoints a communist propaganda poster celebrating a new bridge and railway line with a waving golden lucky cat – a mass produced piece of plastic found the world over.

The text at the bottom of the image explains that children are observing the progress of a communist city, following the arrival of capitalism. Ever explained that he wanted to represent a clash of cultures and the contradictions it produces. China lives the contradiction of a communist regime embracing capitalism, whilst Latin America wrestles with its indigenous cultural roots and its history with Europe.

There’s lots of interesting personal touches to the painting. It’s inspired by Mexican social realist muralists, but Ever has chosen to use images from Chinese propaganda because it suits the aesthetic he’s been exploring.

The text below the image is written in French, because Ever attributes his political perspectives to the time he spent in France.

And whilst this is a mural with a message, inspired by history and painted beautifully in a classic style, it’s location says “graffiti” as opposed to “institutionally sanctioned mural”. The mural is fairly well hidden by a tree, and is painted on the front wall of a squat, next door to a busy parilla.

Is it any marking scratched into or painted on any flat surface, as the latin word “grafito” itself originally indicated? Is it an illicit letter based form of art, painted in aerosol on walls & trains? The Buenos Aires based artist Nerf claims the title graffiti writer, but is perhaps best known for his futuristic abstract style which defies categorisation.

Nerf first began exploring graffiti when he discovered the New York graffiti movement and hip hop culture in the late 90s. He quickly mastered the use of aerosol, and developed a style that rivalled the best writers in terms of technique, style and complexity.

Though Nerf continues to use his name as the basis of many pieces, employing his own unique stylized approach to lettering, he has also developed a parallel style that crosses over completely into abstraction. Fascinated by forms and the way they fit together, Nerf uses toy blocks and puzzles as his inspiration for complex isometric 3D forms.

Creating three dimensional forms on a two dimensional surface requires an extraordinary amount of practice, patience and skill. Many other artists rely on sketches and painters tape to help them create an image and manage perspective. Some will even use computer modeling software & projectors to create an image. The precision of the lines and angles is fundamental, as well as the subtle development of light and shadow, and the layering and shading of colors done to achieve the impressive visual effect. If any of these elements is even slightly off, the impact is lost completely.

Whilst many artists incorporate 3D elements in their pieces, very few are able to work as intuitively and spontaneously as Nerf. Without the aid of a sketch, guides or any visual aids, Nerf approaches walls with nothing more than the colours he’s chosen for the day. His organic 3D masterpieces are created completely freehand.

Nerf’s development as a writer and an artist reflects a broader evolution within the scene. As with all art movements, graffiti has evolved as writers tested the boundaries and experimented with new techniques.

There are writers who insist upon a strict and narrow definition of what graffiti is and isn’t, and many have little tolerance for pieces which deviate from “old school” letters.

Nerf has no qualms about describing himself as a graffiti writer, whilst continuing to adapt and change his style. Neither does he have any issues painting with other artists from very different backgrounds. The mutability of his 3D cubes allows him to mesh with just about any style, and create spectacular and unique collaborative murals.

When all is said and done, “graffiti” much like “street art” is just a label. Labels conjure up certain things to certain people. There are broad and narrow interpretations of what labels mean, and interpretations change between cultures and over time.

Nerf’s work isn’t defined by his style, his techniques or the locations in which he paints. Nerf’s work is ultimately defined by Nerf himself.

Melissa Foss

Riding through the streets is one of the best ways to get to know the barrios of Buenos Aires. Cycling around gives you a different perspective on the urban walls, and is a great way to explore and find hidden street art pieces.

Many of the artists rely on their bikes to help them scout out new walls to paint. Some artists like Gualicho even take their paints with them as they cycle, so that they can start work straight away whenever they find a good spot.

For those interested, the graffitimundo bike tour lasts about 4 hours and is $35 USD for the tour, bike & helmet hire and refreshments. We take a leisurely ride around some of the lesser-known spots in Palermo before heading up to Villa Crespo to see fresh pieces by artists such Mart, Jaz, Zumi, Ever, Nasa, Nerf, rundontwalk & Stencil Land to name but a few.

As with all our tours,  our close relationships with artists and intimate knowledge of the scene allows us to reveal the stories behind the art, the different styles and techniques on display together with the cultural and historical context of the movement.

The tour is run in collaboration with the Biking Buenos Aires crew, who keep everyone safe on the road, maintain the bikes and make sure we’re topped up with water, maté and biscuits.  For more images of the tour, the Travel Chica has some great shots on her blog.

Just shoot us a mail if you’d like to join us, a shiny playera bike and the colourful stories behind the walls await.

(All images are by Mart, and are taken from his flickr)

mart

mart

“Díada” is the new exhibition from Poeta & Roma, held in the Museo Casa Carnacini in the heart of their barrio – Villa Ballester.

Villa Ballester is an unassuming barrio with an interesting history, located just outside the city limits of Capital Federal. In the early decades of the twentieth century Villa Ballester flourished, attracting wealthy European families, intellectuals and artists. Ballesters’ contemporary reality is a fairly chaotic jumble of retailers, businesses and newly-constructed housing blocks. However, despite its modern transformation the barrio retains a number of period buildings and its artistic character.

One of the most striking aspects of the barrio is the graffiti and art which cover its walls. If you visit by train, one of the first things you notice is the enormous mural Roma painted on a building near the opposite platform. If you come by road, you can’t fail to miss the stunning psychedelic murals painted by Poeta, Sam & Roma as you cross the railway. Venture further into Villa Ballester and you’ll discover murals and graffiti everywhere.

Poeta & Roma belong to a generation of artists who first began writing graffiti in the mid 90′s. Over time this generation experimented with techniques, materials and concepts, and their creations spanned from spray-painted letters to figurative and abstract compositions painted with everything from tar to blood.

For the exhibition “Díada”, Poeta & Roma were invited inside an important Ballester institution – the Museo Carnacini. The building itself is the former home of the painter Ceferino Carnacini, who built the house a hundred years earlier. The building has been beautifully restored, and features engravings and paintings from Carnacini on the ground floor, with a large exhibition space on the first floor.

“Díada” is a testament to Roma & Poeta’s talents as artists and their journey from childhood to maturity. The main exhibition space is full of stunning large format pieces from the pair, but our favourite part of the exhibition was a wall covered in photos in an adjoining room. The photos documented a lifetime spent painting in the streets. From the first ever pieces of graffiti they painted to their most recent murals, the photos documented each step taken by two teenage graffiti writers towards becoming the artists they are today.

One of the main aims of our project is to share the context to Buenos Aires’ urban art scene. The city’s art will always be impressive for its aesthetics, but for us it has always been just as important to provide the story of how it came to be there, who painted it and why.

“Díada” is a beautiful exhibition of Roma & Poeta’s work, made even more engaging through the presence of a visual journey depicting their development as artists.

Diada, Casa Carnacini, Calle 110 (Pueyrredón), 2720, Villa Ballester. 

Artwork by Roma

Artwork by Roma

Artwork by Poeta

Artwork by Poeta

Roma & Poeta - 1995 to present

Here are a few photos of the spectacular new mural from the Buenos Aires art collective rundontwalk, created with the support of Roger Waters.

The massive mural in Palermo features a number of enormous animal stencils from Fede Minuchin, set against a colourful backdrop of swirling shapes and vines painted by Tester.

Fede Minuchin has been responsible for releasing a host of strange, often mutated animals into the street of Buenos Aires over the years. We’ve managed to capture a number of them in a facebook album titled the Buenos Aires Zoo.

The two artists who make up the collective are both prolific in their solo projects, and its a rare treat to see them collaborate together on a piece of this scale.

2011 was a great year for urban art in Buenos Aires.

Hundreds of remarkable pieces were painted throughout the city, and the year seemed to be filled with inspiring projects and spectacular exhibitions.

We couldn’t even begin to pick out favourite individual pieces, so here are some of the collaborations we loved in 2011.

* * * * *

The transformation of the Konex

Back in early January Tec, Pum Pum, Jaz & Fede from rundontwalk created a spectacular collaborative mural on the towering walls of the Konex cultural centre.

Whilst each artist has a distinctive style and approach they were able to work together to fill the space with a host of surreal characters, including giant stencilled marsupials, smiling cats, lion masked wrestlers and a fairly terrifying looking gaucho on horseback.

We spent spent three days filming with the artists, and created an album of photos documenting one of the largest murals ever to be painted in the city.

* * *

Plaza Zinny

Nestled in the quiet back streets of Palermo Viejo lies Plaza Zinny – a small, walled plaza at the corner of Gascon & Gorriti.

Plaza Zinny was not a place of outstanding beauty. The walls of the plaza hinted at a mural which may have been painted many years ago, but had long since been covered by several hundred layers of political graffiti and the tags of local graffiteros.

Mart saw the potential in the space. He had grown up in the barrio, and knew people on the local council who gave their permission for him to paint there. And so one weekend Mart joined Jaz, Ever & Poeta and took on the huge walls surrounding Plaza Zinny.

Through our relationship with Sinteplast we were able to provide paint for the project, and the local council provided scaffolding. But ultimately the project was lead by the artists. They put their time, money and talents into the project and created something beautiful for the barrio.

We documented the process in a photo album you can see here.

* * *

The Turbo Parade

Turbo was a much loved institution in Buenos Aires – one of the few galleries which supported street artists and provided a space for them to exhibit their works.

The closure of their Palermo gallery marked the end of an era, which they saw off in style in a raucous costumed street parade through Palermo Hollywood.

The event captured the spirit of Turbo and the “buena onda” of the scene. Artists, friends and family joined together to parade through the streets in costume, on bicycles, waving flags and playing instruments.

It was an amazing party, and a reminder that its not just the art – its the artists and their spirit that makes Buenos Aires truly special.

Read more about the parade here.

* * *

Pop Up Gallery

The concept behind the pop-up galley was a great – a group of urban artists stage an intervention in an abandoned period building in Las Cañitas, transforming it into a  gallery / installation for one weekend. But with Red Bull hosting the event, it could have easily become a cynical youth marketing exercise.

Fortunately, the event proved to be a huge success. The building was remarkable, the art stunning. Branded presence was  discrete and kept to a minimum. The project was lead by artists, and each artists was given full control over how to approach their space. Red Bull might have only been doing it to market their product, but they helped create something beautiful in the process.

More on the Pop Up Gallery event here.

* * *

Casacuberta

Casacuberta is a quiet residential passageway in the Parque Patricios. Earlier last year the residents of Casacuberta reached out to stencil artists from the Hollywood in Cambodia gallery with an offer – they would provide all the materials, tea, biscuits and buena onda they could, if the artists would consider painting their homes.

The offer was accepted, and several houses have been completely covered in intricate stencil art from bs.as.stncl, rundontwalk & Stencil Land. Casacuberta has become the stencil counterpart to Calle Lanin (a passageway in Barracas where the houses are covered in colourful mosaics) and another great example of a project made possible through the mutual respect between artists and the wider community.

More photos from Casacuberta here

* * *

Fuera de la Línea

We loved the Fuera de la Línea exhibition. Curators Lucas Zambrano & Soledad Zambrano took over the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Rosario (more commonly known as the MACRO), and put on an extraordinary exhibition of paintings, murals and installations from a broad selection of artists from Argentina & Brazil.

It would have been easy for this exhibition to have labelled itself as an exhibition of street art. Street art is media friendly and currently falls under the global spotlight of “things that are cool”. The participating artists were all well known for their urban art and shared a long history working in the streets. But instead of focussing on the physical context in which the artists paint, the exhibition focussed on something else the artists have in common – they had all consistently pushed the boundaries with their art.

Street art draws much of it’s impact from its context, but once you get over the fact that there’s art in the streets, you’re left with the much more interesting question about what the act of its creation implies. Once you started to look beyond the walls themselves, you can explore the different methods of expression and the way context has shaped and refined techniques.

We loved this exhibition because it wasn’t about celebrating the fact that art had been painted in the streets. It celebrated the work of  artists who challenged conventions, broke rules and worked outside the lines.

Read more about the exhibition here.

* * *

Garibaldi Pum urban regenration project

A two block passageway between Boca Juniors football stadium and the tourist hotspot Caminito was mainly used as a toilet for local dogs and dumping ground for rubbish. This changed thanks to an ambitious project called Garibaldi Pum organised by Fundacion X La Boca.

A group of artists were invited to work together to transform the passageway, and in doing so help regenerate a small part of La Boca outside of the heavily policed tourist zone. Over the course of a week, artist from different background with very different techniques transformed the forgotten passageway and made it into an outdoor art gallery.

Garibaldi Pum showed how art can be used to regenerate an area. An ugly forgotten part of La Boca was made beautiful, and attractive for tourists and residents alike.

Read more about Garibaldi Pum here

* * *

Street Arte BA 2011

Two great events from Street Arte BA this year.

The first was a repeat of the excellent intervention they staged last year at La Oxygena. A large and eclectic group of artists came together to transform both the outside walls and inside spaces in a disused Oxygen factory in Once, turning a disused industrial space into a fairly spectacular art installation.

They later returned to the space for their recent exhibition graffiti en canvas brought together a diverse group of artists together for an exhibition of murals and framed pieces.

We have lots of images from the first painting session here, and a post on the recent exhibition here.

* * *

Tecnópolis

Argentina’s sprawling arts and technology fair was the setting for some of the more impressive pieces painted this year. The sheer scale of the site and the size of the warehouses offered a number of artists huge concrete canvasses on which to work.

More info on tecnopolis here, plus you can see a full set of images on our flickr here

* * *

Meeting of Styles Buenos Aires

The Meeting of Styles urban art festival revitalised tired walls and transformed public spaces throughout the city. The three day event saw graffiti writers and street artists fly in from all over the world to collaborate with local artist in transforming the walls and public spaces of the city.

Buenos Aires enjoys an incredible reputation for street art. It is a city full of walls waiting to be painted, with a strong spirit of collaboration between artists, and public which supports expression and creativity. The event built upon the reputation Buenos Aires enjoys, and brought together artists from a wide variety of backgrounds to create some exceptional work.

More about the Meeting of Styles festival here

2011 was a great year. We’re looking forward to seeing what 2012 brings.

We love Street Arte BA.

Over the years Street Arte BA developed its own distinctive visual identity and “onda”. Since its beginnings as a huge painting session, the vibe of Street Arte BA has been inclusive and experimental. Their events bring together artists and collectives from different countries, backgrounds and from all ends of the spectrum of visual art.

Their latest exhibition is held at “La Oxigena”, a former oxygen factory managed by the Fundacion Rosenblum. The site has played host to a number of interventions, and the exterior and interior of the building is covered in graffiti, stencils & murals from a number of local and visiting international artists.

Venturing inside the building, past the workshops and artists studios on the lower floors and the building starts to feel like an art squat. The peeling paintwork and crumbling plaster has been partly restored through the course of each painting session, not to mention radically transformed by dozens of artists, each seemingly pursuing their own vision of how to improve the space.

The exhibition is titled  ”graffiti en canvas”, and features an eclectic mix of canvas & framed pieces, murals and installations from a number urban artists. The artwork is spread across two floors, both featuring a large central space and a number of smaller adjoining offices. Each office is in a different state of repair, and has its own unique character thanks to the remarkable variety of styles and techniques on display.

Elegantly framed pieces hang next to paint spattered installations. Some artists have chosen to restore the dilapidated offices, others have interacted with the building’s obvious signs of neglect and decay. The show captures the dynamism and experimental quality of urban art, and give the impression of carefully curated anarchy.

The exhibition is open by appointment only every Saturday, from 4pm – 7pm until December 16th.

To make an appointment send an email to streetarteba@gmail.com, for more details visit streetarteba.com/graffiti-en-canvas.

We’ve posted a few photo highlights below, and will be uploading more photos onto facebook and flickr over the next few days.

el decertor

poeta + mart

Sordi

jade

oz montania + ice

luna

malatesa

pelos de pluma

pastel

The exhibition represents a slight departure from the cute characters & vibrant colours that Pum Pum is famous for.

The football themed show features a host of characters (which are still admittedly cute) sporting tattoos, clutching choripan & vino, and occassionally brandishing batons. The hint of violence and muted colours give the show a delicious touch of darkness.

The exhibition is being held at Hollywood in Cambodia gallery (open Tuesday to Sunday, 5pm-9pm) and will run until Saturday 10th December.

If you’re in Buenos Aires don’t miss the show!

If you’re not, and would like more info about the show and Pum Pum’s artwork please contact us.

The world famous graffiti festival Meeting of Styles hit Buenos Aires a couple of weeks ago.

The event was run by Estilo Libre in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment & Public Spaces, with sponsorship from Sinteplast & Sullair.

Over 130 local and international artists participated in the city-wide urban art festival. Artists from different backgrounds with a wide array of styles transformed buildings, bridges and public spaces throughout the city.

Meeting of Styles festivals are held throughout the world, however the events do not follow a rigid template and the vibe and format of events changes by city. There was some controversy regarding the inclusion of street artists in the Buenos Aires event, however their inclusion better reflected the nature of urban art in the city.

A formidable amount of art was created over 3 days. The festival breathed new life into some of the city’s faded graffiti halls of fame, and brought colour to a host of dull city walls.

We’re still taking photos, and will eventually have a complete record of all the art created for the festival on our Flickr account.

But for now here are a few of our favourite pieces:

chu + tec + defi + p3dro

roma + highraff

emy mariani

entes + pesimo

kid gaucho + erik + lake

georgina ciotti

martin ron

Jim Vision

martin caos + kumbo + cube

mart + ever + poeta + decertor (foto: flickr.com/photos/martcolores/)

jaz

We miss Turbo. The closure of their Palermo gallery (run by the Doma collective) marked the end of an era. The gallery closed in style, hosting a raucous costumed street parade through the barrio.

The event also marked the beginning of a new stage in Turbo’s evolution. Turbo became a nomadic gallery, curating exhibitions in virtual spaces and through pop up events.

Turbo’s most recent pop up event opened on Saturday. The keenly anticipated show is entitled XXL and showcases large format artwork from a host of celebrated Argentina & Brazilian urban artists, including works from bs.as.stncl, Chu, Malatesta, Defi, Doma, Ever, Fede Minuchin, Jaz, Mart, Nasa, P3DRO, Tec & Tester from Argentina, and Onio, Base V & Lelo from Brazil among others.

The exhibition is held in in Barrio Chino, La Boca. Anyone familiar with La Boca will know that the character of the neighbourhood changes dramatically once you leave the tourist mecca of Caminito. Venture a few blocks away from Caminito’s stylised homage to  ”what La Boca once was” and you’ll find genuine 150 year old “conventillos” – shared tenement buildings built using materials salvaged from the ship yards.

The gallery space, cryptically named “The Breakfast of Champions” is cavernous – a former storage warehouse transformed into gallery. The towering white walls showcase dozens of spectacular large format artworks.

The distinctive artistic styles found in the streets of Buenos Aires are well represented in the exhibition. An array of stencils, geometric forms, figurative works and complex collages captures the spirit of the city walls, and the energy and dynamism of urban art.

The exhibition showcases the talents of a generation of young artists – the pioneers of urban art in Argentina. This collective exhibition of works embodies a unique visual language that has been crafted through a decade of artistic collaboration, and the cross pollination of techniques and ideas.

* * * * *

The exhibition is only until Saturday 10th of December. Viewings can be arranged by appointment throughout the week between 2pm and 8pm, contact us if you’re interested in visiting.

You can download a full catalogue of artwork here, feel free to get in touch if you have any questions regarding the exhibition and artwork.

Turbo XXL
California 928, La Boca
Until December 10th
2pm – 8pm

Barrio Chino, La Boca // art: rundontwalk + orilo // foto: mike lockridge