All posts tagged: Mexico

“Sensacional” Mexican Design: Centro de las Artes. SLP, MX / Diary # 3

“Sensacional” Mexican Design: Centro de las Artes. SLP, MX / Diary # 3

One of the best ways to see a city is through its advertisements, especially when handmade. Perhaps we’re disposed to thinking this because increasingly there is a blurred line today between typical commercial promotions and street artists branding their legal/illegal work on the street with social media tags or websites that lead to products to purchase.

Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Currently, at the Center for the Arts of San Luis Potosi (Centro de las Artes de San Luis Potosi), the “Sensacional” exhibition invites you to witness the graphical and design interpretations you’ll find on the streets of nearly every neighborhood – and you’ll feel welcomed. Walking through the galleries and seeing the figures, fonts, and colors is like sampling daily flavors and emotions you’ll find on Mexican streets. It’s a handmade open vernacular that speaks directly in the design and imagery of gas stations, corner groceries, signage, flyers, packaging, labels, posters, and announcements. The images may be painted with intense color schemes, skewed proportions, a familiar cartoon or celebrity, and humor; a pleasing sense of humor specific to the culture that is rather free of the usual contrivances.  

Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Trilce Ediciones México. It has traveled to many cities since 2003 – including Glasgow (UK), Pasadena (US), Washington (US), New York (US), Boston (US), San Francisco (US), San Antonio (US), Zaragoza (Spain), Alexandria (Egypt), Bogota (Colombia), Zacatecas (Mexico), and Mexico City. Here in San Luis Potosi, we were happy to see many of the cultural influences that form the aesthetic of the street all joined together. The curators are well organized and the show is presented with categories that meld trade, food, aesthetics, nationalism, religion, animals, transportation, machismo, burlesque, music posters, and Lucha Libre.

Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Eclectic and entertaining, the everyday language of comics frequently appears in many images hand-created by untrained artists who function as advertising agencies for a client list that may include mechanic shops, churches, food vendors, liquor stores, mariachis, and wrestling expositions. Violating all kinds of corporate, copyright, and art school/trade rules, these idiosyncratic graphics are untouched by the blanded global commercial aesthetic, making them more authentic, human, and, definitely, pleasing.

Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sensational: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)
Sensacional: Mexican Design. Centro de las Artes. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For more details about Sensational: Mexican Design and Centro de las Artes, San Luis Potosi, click HERE

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San Luis Potosi Diary # 1: Alive, Free, and Without Fear

San Luis Potosi Diary # 1: Alive, Free, and Without Fear

Certain sectors of Mexican society have a women problem. More accurately, they have a lack-of-reverence-and-respect-for-women problem.

Ongoing violence against women has pushed many in civil society to fight back in an organized fashion across classes, ages, trades, professions, religious and academic spheres. With marches, protests, street art, and speeches millions of Mexican women from all sectors of life and demographics have been coming out to the streets to let their leaders know that they are fed up.

Ni una más” is the slogan most often used; “Not one more”.

Unidentified artist. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

In March protests in more than 20 states across the country women called for an end to gender-based violence. The Mexican newspaper Milenio reported extensively on protests in Mexico City and included news about marches in cities large and small; Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana, León and Puebla – all saw marches, as did numerous smaller cities including Morelia, San Luis Potosí, Saltillo, Cancún, Mérida, Oaxaca, Guanajuato, Los Cabos, Veracruz, Zacatecas, Hermosillo, Tlaxcala and Chilpancingo.

This unidentified artist adopted Catholic iconography to make their point. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Several women’s rights organizations have accused President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of not making the problem a top priority in his administration. Even worse, some assert that he has callously blamed the problem on the victims themselves, adding to a general perception in the country that the president really doesn’t care. According to the Guardian, ten women are killed every day in Mexico.

This week in the historic district of San Luis Potosi we saw more references to this topic than any other in the street art and graffiti on walls. The technique and format of creation  varies, but the messages are empowering and they illustrate a determination and resilience of people who are advocating for change.

Slogans are stenciled on fencing, wheat-pasted graphics are stuck to door ways. Here in La Calzada de Guadalupe, a green and vibrant park that tourists flock to, a statue paying tribute to woman’s rights is adorned with fresh flowers and information about the Femenicidios (or Femicides) that terrorize people lays at its feet.

Every few blocks you can see a poster seeking missing young women taped to light posts. In a city that has such a strong reverence for history and the sacrosanct place of women in its evolution, it is striking to see such issues so fervently discussed in the art on the street.

Sculpture in La Calzada de Guadalupe park, San Luis Potosi (photo © Steven P. Harrington)
This unidentified artist adopted Catholic iconography to make their point. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist. San Luis Potosi, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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BSA Images Of The Week: 12.13.20 / Chihuahua Special

BSA Images Of The Week: 12.13.20 / Chihuahua Special

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week.

Happy Hannukah to all our Jewish friends this week as the festival of lights began on Thursday night. “Chag Sameach!”

Meanwhile, the Christmas jam is in full force with lights in people’s windows and in stores and yesterday in Bushwick, Brooklyn…. those little electric lights were surrounding a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe that a small group of women crossing the street was carrying at the intersection of Broadway and Myrtle. They looked like they were holding prayer books or papers with prayers on them. For those of you unfamiliar with the Our Lady of Guadalupe Day 2020, it culminates in a popular Catholic feast that celebrates the belief that a man encountered the Virgin Mary, Mexico’s patron saint, in Mexico City on December 9 and 12, 1531.

Speaking of Mexico, all of our Images of the Week are flown straight here from there today – sunbaked and sweet. Colectivo Tomate is the name of the group responsible for many of these brand new historically-inspired murals in Chihuahua, Mexico – and we thought we’d share this collection of new works from this warm desert-based city of a million only 4 hours from El Paso.

The collective describes itself as an independent group of young Mexicans who seek an improvement in the way of life in the cities in Mexico. They talk about using their mural works and arts programs in terms of healing communities immersed in environments of violence, extreme poverty, or social conflicts – with artistic processes, dialogue, and community work.

Aside from the fact that Mexico is the birthplace of inspiration for the great mural movement in the 20th century, it is also important to recognize that graffiti, street art, and mural art are very personal in how you define them, but those definitions are going to vary from person to person, city to city, decade to decade. It’s good to see how art in the streets here in Mexico is also building healing and strength in the community.

So a shout out to Colectivo Tomate Chihuahua, who is participating in this to celebrate “Chihuahua Capital Creative” – a week where they host talks, conferences, and workshops, entirely free at the Instituto de Cultura del Municipio de Chihuahua.

Here is our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Dagoz, Ale Poire, Aleida Medina, AO, Carlos Van Frankenstein, Ely Astorga, Gear, Grimp, Joaquin Salvador Navarro, Luis Miguel Lopez, MES, MiR, Mitthu, MUDA, Raul Rojas, Renik, Terrmoto, Yanely Sara, and Zoe.

A tribute by an unidentified artist to Quino AKA Joaquin Salvador Navarro, the creator of the popular comic strip Mafalda. The Argentinian cartoonist drew the precocious six year old whose observations about injustices and daily life influenced millions of Latin American readers. Quino died on September 30th at the age of 88. Chihuahua, Mexico. 12-2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Alto a la violencia politica. Stop the political violence. Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Alto a la violencia politica. Stop the political violence. Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Ale Poire. Detail. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Ale Poire. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Raul Rojas. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Raul Rojas. Detail. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Raul Rojas. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Yanely Sara. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Muda. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mitthu Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Toño Terremoto. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Luis Miguel Lopez. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Luis Miguel Lopez. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Ely Astorga. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Ely Astorga. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I_99hdjoh0
Carlos Van Frankenstein. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
AO. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Aleida Medina. Detail. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Aleida Medina. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Dagoz. Colectivo Tomate. Ciudad Mural Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
MIR Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Renik, Zoe. Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
MES. Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Grimp. Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Gear Chihuahua, Mexico. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Untitled. Manhattan. December 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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BSA Images Of The Week: 05.10.20 / Dispatch From Isolation # 49

BSA Images Of The Week: 05.10.20 / Dispatch From Isolation # 49

Happy Mother’s Day in the US and in Mexico too.

We praise the work and the love that mothers around the world are giving today and every day, with gratitude and recognition for their shaping of our global society. Salute to all the mothers! Without them, it goes without saying, we’d be nowhere.

So here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Cake$, DG, Diez, GCG, HOACS, PREZ, Roachi, and Tag.

#TAG with commentary on one Mark Zuckerberg and the use of Pokemon to fully map and trace and predict our behaviors, and of course drive sales. In Tel Aviv. (photo © #TAG)
“This Space is Not for Advertisements.” AJ in Chihuahua, Mexico with commentary on walls free of advertisements. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
AJ in Chihuahua, Mexico with commentary on walls free of advertisements…and immigration. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
AJ in Chihuahua, Mexico with commentary on walls free of advertisements and immigration. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Tribute to Jason DG. We don’t know who painted “Jason” (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Tribute to DG by PREZ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
DG tribute. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Hoacs, Roachi (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Hoacs. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Don’t Believe The Hype…in Wynwood… (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist…please help…(photo © Jaime Rojo)
GGC in Chihuahua, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Diez in Chihuahua, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artists in Chihuahua, Mexico…please help…(photo © Jaime Rojo)
In da dog house in Wynwood…(photo © Jaime Rojo)
Cake$ Stencils in Bethlehem. (photo © Cake$)

“Today people all over the world are wearing the keffiyeh to offer support to Palestinians in their struggle for freedom,” says Street Artists Cake$, who sends us this new piece he did near the separation wall. He says he considers the wall to be a symbol of oppression – but worries more now that Coronovirus has hit the region as well – so he depicts Jesus with a face covering. “Because of the pandemic, this stencil is also a caution sign for locals that you need to cover your face to protect yourself and others. A new study and computer model provide fresh evidence for a simple solution to help us emerge from this nightmarish lockdown. The formula? Always social distance in public and, most importantly, wear a mask, scarf or bandana.”

Cake$ Stencils in Bethlehem. (photo © Cake$)
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BSA Images Of The Week: 12.08.19 / Chihuahua Special

BSA Images Of The Week: 12.08.19 / Chihuahua Special

Andele! Welcome to Mexico!

Northern Mexico can be arid and beige and green – and also very colorful. We were swinging through Chihuahua recently and captured some pieces on walls and freights that represent the current Mexicano sabor on the street – a mixture of calligraphy and straight up lettering skills, figurative pieces as well.

So here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring AEO Crew, DCH, Dos, Dosis, Gear, HB, JPK, Osea, PERISR, Si Loco, Siete, Spy!, Tees, Tiest, and TNO.

Dosis . Gear (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Siete (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Siete (photo © Jaime Rojo)
SIS (photo © Jaime Rojo)
SIS (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Gear . SIS (photo © Jaime Rojo)
HB (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Hbl (photo © Jaime Rojo)
HBL (photo © Jaime Rojo)
TNO (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Tees . Spyl (photo © Jaime Rojo)
AEO Crer (photo © Jaime Rojo)
PERISR (photo © Jaime Rojo)
PERISR (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
JPK . DCH (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Tiest (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Rekles (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Si Loco . Osea . Dos (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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“Evolucion de una Revolucion” Outside in Queretaro, Mexico

“Evolucion de una Revolucion” Outside in Queretaro, Mexico


“Martha Cooper isn’t only a photographer, she’s a historian as well and you are here with us today to pay homage to her work. Martha is my teacher and she taught me more than graffiti, she’s taught me the way in which we live with art every day. When we see a piece of art on the street we bring it into our daily lives. That’s precisely Martha’s contribution to our lives”

Edgar Sánchez, co-founder of the Nueve Arte Urbano festival.


Someone left a love message for Martha on the board of the explanatory text for the exhibition. It reads in Spanish: “Martita I love you in secret”

Under the magical spell of the Jacarandas in full bloom, a spirit of Pax Urbana flowed through Queretaro’s lush public park Alameda Central this weekend as dignitaries from the city, including the honorable Andrea Avendaño, the Minister of Culture of the City of Queretaro, and the Nueve Arte Urbano team hosted the opening of an outdoor exhibition by famed photographer Martha Cooper.

The 101 photographs spanning four decades were enlarged and mounted in weather resistant vinyl throughout the park, representing the full range of Ms. Cooper’s continued focus on art in the streets.

Martha Cooper. Evolucion de una Revolucion. In collaboration with Nueve Arte Urbano. March 30th, Queretaro, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Named “Evolucion de una Revolucion” (Evolution of a Revolution), produced by Nueve Arte Urbano in collaboration with the Secretariat for Culture of the city of Queretaro, the open air exhibit champions the grassroots art movement that continues to evolve in cities around the world. It also references the social and political revolutions in countries like Mexico that reflect the will of people and produce upheaval that change the course of history.

The welcoming ceremony featured bboys, bgirls, djs, and speeches by the Minister of Culture, representatives of the municipality, and Edgar Sánchez, co-founder of the Nueve Arte Urbano festival.

Martha Cooper. Evolucion de una Revolucion. In collaboration with Nueve Arte Urbano. March 30th, Queretaro, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

With the arte libre espiritu of New York graffiti writers like Dondi, Lee, and Futura mingling in the air with Mexican muralists Siqueiros, Rivera, and Orozco – a rather transnational reverence for the powerful engagement of art in the streets was at play.

Notably, the audience here were again the youth of the city who feel the powerful magnetism of this grassroots people’s movement that opens doors to them to create and express themselves, giving them a sense of agency over their own environment. 

Martha Cooper. Evolucion de una Revolucion. In collaboration with Nueve Arte Urbano. March 30th, Queretaro, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

It has always been the kids, teens, and young adults who have driven this global urban culture and Ms. Cooper has steadfastly sought the clues to our future by consulting the opinions and creative expressions of these folks.

That may explain why Cooper today embodies that precise sense of discovery and vitality – an enthusiasm that shined during a personal tour she gave of her new photo exhibition here outside in Mexico.

Martha Cooper. Evolucion de una Revolucion. In collaboration with Nueve Arte Urbano. March 30th, Queretaro, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“On a path where thousands of people walk every day
we’ll be welcomed by urban art in an urban space. “Evolution of a Revolution” is an exhibition by famed photographer Martha Cooper under the project PaxUrbana, a collaborative project that’s rooted in a dialogue between several sectors of our society and includes the graffiti writers from different neighborhoods of the city of Queretaro”

Andrea Avendaño, Minister of Culture of the City of Queretaro


Diego Afro. DJ, bboy and artist. Martha Cooper. Evolucion de una Revolucion. In collaboration with Nueve Arte Urbano. March 30th, Queretaro, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper. Evolucion de una Revolucion. In collaboration with Nueve Arte Urbano. March 30th, Queretaro, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper. Evolucion de una Revolucion. In collaboration with Nueve Arte Urbano. March 30th, Queretaro, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper. Evolucion de una Revolucion. In collaboration with Nueve Arte Urbano. March 30th, Queretaro, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper. Evolucion de una Revolucion. In collaboration with Nueve Arte Urbano. March 30th, Queretaro, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper. Evolucion de una Revolucion. In collaboration with Nueve Arte Urbano. March 30th, Queretaro, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper. Evolucion de una Revolucion. In collaboration with Nueve Arte Urbano. March 30th, Queretaro, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper. Evolucion de una Revolucion. In collaboration with Nueve Arte Urbano. March 30th, Queretaro, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper. Evolucion de una Revolucion. In collaboration with Nueve Arte Urbano. March 30th, Queretaro, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper. Evolucion de una Revolucion. In collaboration with Nueve Arte Urbano. March 30th, Queretaro, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
In no particular order: @arthlets @bgirljenko @oness_tor Diego Afro Cruz, @mexicanitolibre @cirujanomalagon @andynmt07 Martha Cooper. Evolucion de una Revolucion. In collaboration with Nueve Arte Urbano. March 30th, Queretaro, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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Trans-graffiti and the Trans-National “Mextonia” Festival

Trans-graffiti and the Trans-National “Mextonia” Festival

Mexico and Estonia; an unlikely couple. But sometimes love is like that. In a time when orthodoxy globally is seemingly self-combusting and obviously falling short in meeting the needs of people, it is perhaps no surprise that the unique hybrids of shared strengths are those that arise and can lead.

Consider “Mextonia”.

Édgar Sánchez and Sigre Tompel. Mextonia Co-Founders. Mextonia Part 1. Tallinn, Estonia. June 2017. (photo © Martha Cooper)

A cultural love child combining the traditions of these two nations has resulted in a surprising amount of cross-cultural exchange and mural making in the last year or two. Today we have just some of the artworks made during a two-part event held in each country, the first in Tallinn, Estonia in June 2017 and the second in Querétaro, Mexico during March 2018.

The unlikely pairing by two sociological searchers who love graffiti, Street Art, and the mural traditions of the past as much as the modern mural phenomena now speaks a common language of aesthetics in multiple spheres.

Renata Mtz. Mextonia Part 1. Tallinn, Estonia. June 2017. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Together Édgar Sánchez and Sigre Tompel have mounted two large cross-culture jams, attracting numerous artists and trans-national interpreters (nearly 100), presenting and renewing interests in history, indigenous people, traditions, and the environment challenges of today.

By highlighting the similarities and distinct differences in traditional and modern culture, these two are the magnetic field around whom a multi-faceted public art practice is developing that showcases urban and mural artists.

You haven’t seen a hybrid like this before.

Goal. Mextonia Part 1. Tallinn, Estonia. June 2017. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Together the two say that the effort is “a reminder of what makes us feel proud of being Mexicans, Estonians, and even better, what unites us beyond our nationalities: our cultural freedom. Our responsibility of making this place, this world, a better place than how we found it.”

The enterprise is frequently steeped in metaphor and symbolism and a search for meanings in the overlapping of traditions. One that is often sited is the Blue Deer/Fern Blossom intersection.

In México, according to ancient Huichol tribe tradition, people go to hunt Blue Deer to search for wisdom and inner vision. Searching is also involved in the Estonian ancient tradition of searching for the Fern Blossom that is said to appear only during the summer equinox of June, which they call Jaaniöö. Both traditional cultural stories represent prosperity, protection and fertility, they say.

Sänk. Mextonia Part 1. Tallinn, Estonia. June 2017. (photo © Martha Cooper)

“Mextonia is a gift to remind the world about the Spirit; a collective soul in the shape of a Blue Deer, in finally finding a Fern Blossom,” say Sánchez and Tompel.

For Mr. Sánchez, the Mexican co-creator and author of the Mextonia Manifesto, there is a belief that there are larger forces at work in the Universe and that Mextonia is a platform and vehicle for the new generation.

When reading his observations you will see that the platform is hoping to lead Millennial artists to reconnect with a sense of culture and identity, two things that are sadly slipping away due to the dopamine-laced fire hose of mass media stimuli, social and otherwise, that we are collectively exposed to.

Brushleee. Mextonia Part 1. Tallinn, Estonia. June 2017. (photo © Martha Cooper)

For Tompel, the Estonian co-director of this bi-national transcultural journey, “Mextonia was born from a personal ‘vision quest’ to better understand the native wisdom of Mesoamerican natives.”

She says the enthusiasm and knowledge of Sánchez guided her to better appreciate ancient traditions like those of the Mexican Huichol tribe, and that this new appreciation enlivened her interest in her own homeland of Estonia, which she began to study in earnest. Together, the two of them have poured the molten iron of their combined roots and cast a foundation that many artists are now adding their interpretation to.

Markus Richard Tallvee. Mextonia Part 1. Tallinn, Estonia. June 2017. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Whether it is costume or symbols or rites or ceremony, you can see a deep desire to be inclusive in the styles and expressions. The spring festival, for example, extended its message with the collaboration with the PangeaSeed Sea Walls effort, headed by Tré Packard and his team in pursuit of “combining art and activism on this level and caliber to champion for the oceans,” and often sited aspiration.

Tania Quezada. Mextonia Part 1. Tallinn, Estonia. June 2017. (photo © Martha Cooper)

“Art and public activism can educate and inspire the global community to help save our water resources,” says Packard. “Regardless of its location, large metropolitan city or small coastal town, all drains lead to the ocean and the ocean provides every breath we take. The Earth cannot exist without healthy oceans and water resources.”

With this in mind the city of Querétaro was chosen for the multiple aqua-related public artworks as a way to draw attention to the city’s own reliance on water that is transported from a hundred kilometers outside the city. This chapter of “Mextonia” was also known as “Water is One”.

Ricardo Moste. Mextonia Part 1. Tallinn, Estonia. June 2017. (photo © Martha Cooper)

The experience and study has even helped coin new terms, like transgraffiti and transgraffiti muralism.

“Muralism and Street Art have proven to transform cultural symbols and catalyze culture,” says Sánchez. “Now, Transgraffitti is a trans-personal kind of muralism, which distances itself from both; names and pop culture, by taking deep cultural symbols and re-expressing them in a transcendental and contemporary way.”

Reyben. Mextonia Part 1. Tallinn, Estonia. June 2017. (photo © Martha Cooper)

In this respect, it is a unique view of Street Artist and graffiti writers in contemporary practice from an evolutionary perspective. In the Water is One Manifesto 2.0 that was released this spring the organizers write:

“In today’s world we see millions of young people expressing on walls, influencing the streets and society. They write their names to identify with their space: we call them graffiti writers. As they grow and explore, some look beyond the writing of a personal name and embark into trans-personal-creation.

They research social challenges, paint visual metaphors and transcend borders. They discover the power of their painting over streets and culture. They become a kind of contemporary shaman, producing street incantations.

This is the transpersonal-graffiti, and we call it Transgraffiti muralism.”

Mr. Cinzah. Mextonia Part 1. Tallinn, Estonia. June 2017. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Sermob. Mextonia Part 1. Tallinn, Estonia. June 2017. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Jonky. Mextonia Part 1. Tallinn, Estonia. June 2017. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Mextonia Part 1. Tallinn, Estonia. June 2017. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Mextonia Part 1. Tallinn, Estonia. June 2017. (photo © Martha Cooper)

As BSA correspondent from Tallinn and Querétaro, veteran photojournalist and ethnographer Martha Cooper attended the installations, exhibitions, celebrations, and ceremonies in both countries and she collected a wealth of important information to share.

In her own words Cooper says, “Street art is a worldwide art movement and Mextonia has shown how creative two different cultures can be when combined. Excellent idea – brilliantly realized.”

As mentioned Part 2 in Querétaro, Mexico was a collaboration with Pangea Seed and it was a concerted effort to highlight water resources,  and “The Water Is One” theme was reflected in the murals.

“We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one.”
~Jacques Yves Cousteau

Jason Botkin. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

While these 40 or so photos are resplendent in conveying the spirit and dedication shown daily by participants, they are ultimately a very small sample of the hundreds Cooper took.

Similarly a blog platform like this cannot comprehensively cover the events or the perspectives in their entirety, but we hope that you can gain a greater appreciation for the depth of feeling, scholarship, and talent that is represented here in Martha’s photographs and our descriptions.

Jason Botkin. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

We conclude our text here with an interview that Ms. Cooper conducted for BSA with Sigre Tompel to better understand the breadth of the festival and also to get more detail about a sacred spiritual ceremony that Cooper attended with native peoples and the artists during her Mexican visit this spring.

Martha Cooper: Can we call “Water Is One” in Querétaro Part 2 of Mextonia? Are you planning Part 3?
Sigre Tompel: Yes, it is a sequence of Mextonia, part 2 (Mextonia in Estonia was the element of Fire, Water Is One was the element of Water. Yes, we are planning part 3 and 4 (Earth and Air).

Jason Botkin. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Montreal-based artist Jason Botkin met and exceeded human and creative limits at one point by successfully and arduously rappelling down, up, and around this great dome to recreate an astounding version of the Aztec calendar which can only be appreciated by flying overhead. Ms. Cooper tells us that all artists working on the cupola or dome were required to have a periodic medical check to ensure their good health during the installation of the frescoes.

Jason Botkin. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Nueve Art Urbano Team)

Martha Cooper: How many artists participated in both the Estonian and Mexican festivals?
Sigre Tompel: In Estonia we had 60 artists and in Mexico 33 – together with graffiti writers and neighboring walls of the Dome. These 5 artists were actually in both festivals – Aaron Glasson (New Zealand), Sänk (Estonia), Sermob (Mexico), Renata (Mexico), Goal (Mexico). Our whole core crew is a total of 15 people.

Jason Botkin. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Martha Cooper: What was the name for the type of group that performed the ceremony at the walls? What was burning in the pot that produced the smoke? Copal?
Sigre Tompel: They are called Concheros, they use Copal , smudging for blessing. The message was smudging the artists to thank them for their work and to bless their way back home, so they can arrive healthy and happy. The name of this particular group of Concheros is “In Xochitl In Cuicatl”, Flor y Canto (Flower and Singing) and they are lead by Conchero General Manuel Rodriguez. The name is in Nahuatl, the ancient language of the Mexica.

Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Paola Delfín. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Martha Cooper: Does the ceremony have a name? Can you say a few words about what kind of blessing it was or what message they were sending the artists?
Sigre Tompel: The Concheros hold the tradition of the old Mexican belief system. After being conquered by the Spanish, they decided to hold balance and harmony between the two belief symbols, so they started honoring Christian symbols, while honoring also Mexican symbols, usually in secret. Concheros need to be reconsidered as a Cultural Heritage of the World, they are not “syncretic” by ignorance, but to keep the sacred balance of cultural hybridization.

The Concheros were very happy because the artists expressed the metaphors of their dances into the murals, and because this represents a kind of Mexican renaissance that returns to an earlier time, reinterpreting the ancient classic pre-religious Mexican belief systems.

Paola Delfín. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Ryper . Goal. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Ryper . Goal. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Mantra. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Mantra. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Mantra. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Curiot. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Sänk. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Sänk. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Sänk. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Demencia. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Nosego. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Smithe. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

 

Pogo. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Aaron Glasson. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Jason Botkin. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Nueve Art Urbano Team)

Renata. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Sermob. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Juez. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Valiñas. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Atole Parra . Solé. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Graffiti Wall. Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Water is One/Mextonia Part 2. Querétaro, Mexico. March-April 2018. (photo © Martha Cooper)


Artists participating include:

Aaron Glasson (New Zealand)
Curiot Tlapazotl (Mexico)
Dementia (Mexico)
Goal (Mexico)
Jason Botkin (Canada)
Mantra (France)
Nosego (United States)
Paola Delfín (Mexico)
Pogo (Mexico)
Renata (Mexico)
Ryper (Mexico)
Sermob (Mexico)
Smithe (Mexico)
Sänk (Estonia)


For more information on Mextonia please visit Mextonia.com

For more information on PangeaSeed please visit PangeaSeed Foundation

Read this article in Spanish / Leer este articulo in Espanol aqui:

TRANS-GRAFFITI Y EL FESTIVAL TRANSNACIONAL “MEXTONIA

Publicado el 26 de Mayo, 2018

México y Estonia; una pareja improbable. Pero a veces el amor es así. En una época en la que la ortodoxia global es autocomplaciente y obviamente no satisface las necesidades de las personas, quizás no sorprenda que sean los híbridos únicos de fortalezas compartidas los que pueden liderar en el mundo.

Consideremos “Mextonia”.

El retoño que combina las tradiciones… MAS


Our sincere thanks to Martha Cooper for her leadership on this effort as well as her talents documenting the action.

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BSA Images Of The Week: 04.29.18

BSA Images Of The Week: 04.29.18

BSA-Images-Week-Jan2015

Mexico, Norway, Brooklyn – a typical week of BSA Images.

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Abraham Chaco, BustArt, Cost, Curve, El Xupet Negre, Gee Whiskers, JMZ, JPS, Juce, Raf Urban, The Reading Ninja, and Turtle Caps.

Top Image: Christina pays homage to the Mexican master and social realist painter David Alfaro Siqueiros in Chihuahua, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Abraham Chacon. Detail. Chihuahua, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Abraham Chacon. Chihuahua, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist paints a stencil of Pancho Villa in Chihuahua, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist. Chihuahua, Mexico. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JPS makes an arrest in Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Tor Staale Moen )

Raf Urban (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Turtle Caps for JMZ Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Reading Ninja (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Reading Ninja (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Art Anarchy (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Truckers caps are still running in trendy cat circles apparently. Gee Whiskers (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Curve (photo © Jaime Rojo)

COST (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Juce (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Xupet Negre for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

 

Untitled. The lady in red. Manhattan. April 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

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SANER: Wishes And Hopes For 2018

SANER: Wishes And Hopes For 2018

As we draw closer to the new year we’ve asked a very special guest every day to take a moment to reflect on 2017 and to tell us about one photograph that best captures the year for them. It’s an assortment of treats to surprise you with every day – to enjoy and contemplate as we all reflect on the year that has passed and conjure our hopes and wishes for 2018. This is our way of sharing the sweetness of the season and of saying ‘Thank You’ to each of you for inspiring us throughout the year.

*******

The Mexican SANER has taken many by surprise with his masterful handling of traditional symbols and language of his cultural heritage as well as his deft re-employment of them to tell his own stories. Influenced by those magic surrealists of mural-making from last century, SANER boldly uses the masks, daggers, and the rich palette of folklorico to talk about modern scourges of terror and hypocrisy – as well as poetically addressing fears, fantasy, and deep amorous emotion. Today we hear from him about a hope he has for the future and a beautiful image from a very important day for him and his lady this year.


SANER

This photo reflects our search for re-discovery through years of labor and life: “love”, and I don’t just talk about love with your companion, but self-love. Love for dreaming. Love for fear. Love for solitude. Love of re-discovery. Love for ones roots. Love to our human fellows. Love to the unknown brother. Love for the past and hope for the present.

2017 has left us with wonderful memories. A sea of emotions of all kinds but above all a myriad of reflections.

We leave 2017 behind with friends who are no longer walking along with us but rather will wait for us in a parallel universe. With those close to us left homeless by the earthquake. We move forward with sentiments of support which have united us as a community. We welcome 2018 filled with happiness for the opportunity to be able to write one more year in our history, but most of all for having the good fortune to keep discovering our mission in life.

I wish you all an enlightened 2018. A year of rejoicing in life. Let’s all build bridges with our deeds and dismantle divisive walls.

Welcome 2018.

Saner. Cuernavaca, Mexico. April 18th, 2017. (photo © Leo Vazquez)

 


Photo location: Cuernavaca, México
Date: April 08 2017
Photo by: Leo Vazquez
Art paper: Mojigangas de Felipe y Mika

 

SANER

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BSA Images Of The Week: 12.03.17

BSA Images Of The Week: 12.03.17


BSA-Images-Week-Jan2015

While You Were Sleeping is a Korean TV series about a woman who can see the future in her dreams, and a prosecutor who fights to stop these future events from happening. The title also makes us think about the scam of a Tax bill passed while you were sleeping in the middle of the night between Friday and Saturday.

The servants of the rich, these wolves, are facilitating the largest transfer of wealth from the poor and middle class up to their masters for well into the future, and it appears that few are awake to see it. It also pulls health insurance out from underneath 13 million sleeping people. The majority of the country was against this but the servants pushed it through anyway when you weren’t stirring. Good night!

When the US had its largest growing middle class and economic expansion in the 1950s the top tax rate was more than 90%. Did you know that? Reagan lowered it to 39%. This bill lowers the top rate to 20%. Since as a group, hundreds of corporations paid an effective federal income tax rate of just 21.2 percent over a recent eight-year period because they’re working the system, that means many won’t pay any taxes soon, joining GE, Priceline.com, PG&E – who already pay absolutely nothing. Just you will pay the taxes. Congratulations!

Street Art better be dope ya’ll, because that’s where many of us will be living soon – the street.

But we are wide awake for sex scandals, by golly. Powerful men are being accused by past alleged victims from every sector in society right now. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Santa Claus can stay above the fray!

Meanwhile, the tree got lit this week in Rockefeller Center, a lot of people are going to get lit this month at their office holiday party, many NYC art denizens are heading to the Miami Basel Circus this week, and apparently there is supposed to be some Street Art thing happening there too.

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring BD White, Daek, Elbi Elem, Elisa Capdevila, Faile, Jason Woodside, Jerkface, Kai, Killjoy, Magda Love, Mazatl, Mr. Toll, Ola Kalnins, Praxis, Timothy Goodman, and Sonni.

Our top image : Timothy Goodman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

B.D. White for The L.I.S.A. Project. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

B.D. White for The L.I.S.A. Project. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. Toll. Vanity Project. This piece is visible from the street level in front of Crest Hardware in Williamsburg. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Elisa Capdevila for Contorno Urbano in Sant Feliu de Llobregat. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Elbi Elem for Contorno Urbano in Sant Feliu de Llobregat. Barcelona. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jerkface (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Magda Love and Sonni (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Praxis (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Praxis. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Praxis. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kai (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist in the NYC Subway. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ola Kalnins (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jason Woodside (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faile (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faile (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Killjoy collabo with Mazatl in Cholula Puebla for La Linea Street Art. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Daek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Lower East Side of Manhattan, NYC. December 02, 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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BSA Images Of The Week: 02.05.17

BSA Images Of The Week: 02.05.17


BSA-Images-Week-Jan2015

It’s surreal to be on the south side of the US border when Trump has just signed an executive order to build a wall, decides to try to pick a fight with the President of Mexico and drops a travel ban. Gosh, between giving away everything to his ultra-rich friends, loosening regulations on their companies, bringing Frederick Douglass back to life, skipping the Jews, and insulting some key strategic-historic allies it’s just a wonder that he has time to attack the press and say that everyone is lying except him.

As we looked for murals and graffiti in the warm winter sun on main street and back street walls and along rails and on freight trains, we got a taste for the clever wit and aerosol talents of Mexican Street Artists. It may help that they have the amazing muralist history of Mexico to call upon.

We start this week with a huge mural in downtown Chihuahua with their namesake dog who appears to have a peyote blossom on his mind, perhaps looking for an alternate reality to help process all the alternative facts coming from up north. Is surreality here to stay?

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring: Antonio Leon, ASET, DAOR, Daniel Montes, Disko, Nino Fidencio, Rick, SPK FUK, Sebastian Gallegos, SOER and Vera Primavera.

Daniel Montes, Nino Fidencio and Antonio Leon. Chihuahua Dog with Peyote blossom. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sebastian Gallegos. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rick. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

SPK FUK. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ECK. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Paket and ?. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aset . Daor. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Soer . ? Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artists. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist . Mes . Rest. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Wide . Ger . Unidentified artists. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artists. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artists. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artists. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artists. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vandals in the background. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Disko. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Disko. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vera Primavera. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unititled. Chihuahua, Mexico. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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“Stars and Bricks” Go Up on a Berlin Wall from Various & Gould

“Stars and Bricks” Go Up on a Berlin Wall from Various & Gould

“Men build too many walls and not enough bridges.”

― Joseph Fort Newton, Southern Baptist minister from Texas (1876–1950)


And yet, talk again turns to the building of a contiguous wall along the southern border of the US.

Even though the wall is part of an Executive Order from President Trump, some say that in reality it is unlikely to happen because we still have in effect those complicating features of democracy where citizens actually disagree with one another and we are forced to reach a consensus. Not to mention the damage to relations with our 3nd largest trading partner with which goods and services traded totaled an estimated $583.6 billion in 2015.

Various & Gould Stars and Bricks Berlin, January 2017. (photo @ Various & Gould)

It’s complete irony that the current Republican president is demanding a wall to be built when the nearly sainted architect of trickle-down small-government hands-off-the-corporations revolution, Ronald Reagan, is famous for having said to the then Russian president “Mr. Gorbachev: Tear down this wall” nearly 30 years. Likely Gorbachev has different opinions about the current president.

Berliners will tell you that their wall was incredibly damaging to the economies and more importantly, the people and the cultures who lived on both sides of it from 1961 to 1989. In fact the mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller said in a statement Friday, according to a translation by the Washington Post.

“We cannot simply accept that all our historic experiences are being thrown into disarray by the ones we have to thank most for our freedom: the Americans. I call on the U.S. President to not go down this wrong track of isolation and exclusion.”

Various & Gould Stars and Bricks Berlin, January 2017. (photo @ Various & Gould)

Which leads us to this new piece from Berlin based Street Artist duo Various & Gould, who have just wheatpasted a re-designed American flag with the red strips as bricks, partially eating into the stars.

“We made it straight from the guts after reading about Trump’s press conference on Jan. 11th. Among other things he was talking again about building the wall,” V&G tells BSA of the genesis for the new piece made in their studio and taken to the street.

“At first our design was just meant as sort of a visual web comment, but in the days following we decided to make a big poster of it and bring it to the streets,” they say.

Various & Gould Stars and Bricks Berlin, January 2017. (photo @ Various & Gould)

Anytime a nations flag is redesigned or reconfigured some may infer it is a sign of disrespect, but V&G say they are just extremely worried. “Needless to say – it’s not in any way anti-American. In the contrary we fear for the America we know and think of our friends in the US! Trump’s Twitter politics will have an impact on the whole world.”

The Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu disagrees entirely and used Twitter to say so. “President Trump is right. I built a wall along Israel’s southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration. Great success. Great idea,” he tweeted. Freelance writer, author, film maker William Parry says in his opinion piece in Al Jazeera “Israel’s separation wall as an example of a valid security measure is based on gross ignorance, at best.”

So there will likely be ongoing disagreement. Certainly the world is watching and reacting.

Various & Gould Stars and Bricks Berlin, January 2017. (photo @ Various & Gould)

Various & Gould Stars and Bricks Berlin, January 2017. (photo @ Various & Gould)

Various & Gould Stars and Bricks Berlin, January 2017. (photo @ Various & Gould)

Various & Gould Stars and Bricks Berlin, January 2017. (photo @ Various & Gould)

V&G have created a downloadable version for you of their new design below. Just click on #StarsAndBricks.


This article was also published on The Huffington Post.

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