Barcelona this week was a tale of many opinions, passionately expressed, even hammered home. Geographically at the epicenter of a fight for/against the secession of Catalonia this fall, the conversations about everything from futbol to Guaudi to tourists can take on great enthusiasm. Although, no one argues about tapas. Tapas are just always good.
The organic Street Art scene in the city that was famous during the early 2000s has been calmed as a result of a crackdown on illegal works, but some still exists in pockets of stencils and stickers and one-off paintings. The legal stuff, or ‘permissioned’ murals, are more likely what you will find in the central city, with a little more illegal stuff as you move away from the center to Sant Feliu de Llobregat or L’Hospitalet de Llobregat,
In general the Barcelona scene feels alive, vibrant, varied; and the quality of execution can be quite high. There is also an elusive feeling of magic and history infused within the integrated street scene and a healthy amount of socio-political critique – a swirling mix of illegal murals, commissioned murals, and controlled chaos in the artist compounds. Our sincere thanks to our hosts on the streets this week, especially Fernando and Esteban.
Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring 1Up, Axe Colours, Escif, Hosh, Kenor1, Kwets1, Mina Hamada, Pantonio, Rice, and Zosen.
Miss Van at La Escocesa from 2012. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Miss Van at La Escocesa from 2012. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Miss Van at La Escocesa from 2012. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Escif at La Escocesa. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Axe Colours. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Pantonio at The Hangar. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Pantonio at The Hangar. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Rice. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Rice. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Rice. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Zosen and Mina Hamada. Hospitalet de Llobregat. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Hosh. Contorno Urbano.12 + 1. Hospitalet de Llobregat. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Kenor1. Hospitalet de Llobregat. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
1UP Crew. Hospitalet de Llobregat. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Bombers. Sant Feliu de Llobregat. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Kwets1 . Kaligrafics. Sant Feliu de Llobregat. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Kwets1. Hospitalet de Llobregat. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Street Artist and muralist Kwets1 spent three months working on two monumental murals on two tunnel walls right across from each other in the immigrants friendly, working class town of Hospitalet de Llobregat in Barcelona. The obvious theme of the mural is nature, conservation and climate change. The underpass is located right next to a river that attracts a plethora of exotic birds that use as a sanctuary and a rest stop as they migrate south during the winter season. We were actually witness to several large parrots flying from tree to tree while we were there.
The artist says that he took his inspiration directly from the nature story, and the human one of immigration here as well.
The other source was the human immigrant stories in this town. In the late 60’s and 70’s the immigration to the town was from several regions of rural Spain, with agrarian families who left farmlands and came to Barcelona seeking job opportunities in the large manufacturing companies that had established themselves in Barcelona. Many of those original immigrants eventually left the town to retire within Spain or to other European countries – leaving room for a new wave of immigration coming from several parts of Africa and Central and South America.
Presently Hospitalet is a vibrant community of old and new residents, and these murals capture the feeling of colorful, tumultuous, exiting and difficult change.
Kwets1. Hospitalet de Llobregat. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Kwets1. Hospitalet de Llobregat. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Kwets1. Hospitalet de Llobregat. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Kwets1. Hospitalet de Llobregat. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Untitled. Mine is bigger than yours. Barcelona, Spain. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
Having delved into the very heart of the beast, one might gain insight into the monster's psyche—such is the impression conveyed by street artist SEBS. SEBS. Sweet Dreamers. Lisbon, Portugal. (pho...
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week. Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring CAM, David F. Barthold, JJ Veronis, Martha Cooper, Poi Everywhere, REVS, SoulOne, Tones, UF...
Neon Saltwater has that star-washed, sun-kissed aura about her visage and throughout her public/digital space installations. You remember 1990, don’t you? Ex-CIA chief George Bush was president, Sine...
We congratulate our partners at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin for the re-opening of the museum during these difficult times. We applaud their commitment to the arts and to the institution and the...
Always wanted to make suggestions to Okuda about his color choices? Interested in being an assistant painter in his Madrid studio? Wishing you had an opportunity to adult-color but are missing the ac...