Street Art Andalucia

Location:
Spain

Art Culture Graffiti

By Dawn DelVecchio

I like architecture; old architecture to be exact. In fact, I like structures so old that they are shrouded in myth, jungle, dust, or all of the above. Angkor Wat, Petra’s rose-red necropolis, the Coloseum in Rome . . .you get the picture. I don’t care much for urban-scapes packed with bland facades of steel and glass; or whacky shapes that demonstrate an architect’s boredom or an engineering feat. I particularly loath industrial-esque structures: those aesthetic holocausts found at the edge of every city, built as tenements to pack in the masses, without even a nod to beauty, subtlety or space.

So imagine my surprise when, wandering through the architectural orgasm that is Andalucia, I came upon walls covered in graffiti . . . and liked it! Now mind you, what I found was not that scrawling, scribbly stuff scarring the torsos of historic sites. No. The images covering metal door fronts, cement walls, skate parks and foot bridges in Southern Spain are exactly what they are called in contemporary vernacular: Street Art. Carefully planned and surreptitiously executed, these works span a range of themes and styles from colorful cartoons to dark declarations of anger or rebellion.

The term graffiti comes from the Italian, graffito, meaning “little scratching”. Reinvented in the late 1960s to describe the works emerging in American cities such as Philidelphia and New York, today the term refers to any form of spray painted expressions found on public spaces: from the ‘tagging’ of names with no hint of artistic intent, to full-blown murals that demonstrate well-honed talent. Pieces are often illegal and created by ‘crews’ of artists working under cover of darkness. But major cities globally now host legal areas for street artists to use as canvas.

In Andalucia, Moorish and Christian influences are evident everywhere, from the keyhole archways to the complex and colorful azulejos (Arabic ceramic tiles) that decorate walls and balconies, to the ornate spires and flying buttresses of Castillian era cathedrals. It is a region of great artistic legacy whose heirs have clearly taken on that expressive fortune in a manner that speaks to 21st century, urban realities.

Though not as aged as say, Granada’s Alhambra Palace or Sevilla’s immense cathedral, Street Art has its own history and is now recognized as a valid artistic form, with masters, and stylistic ‘schools’. Street artist Bansky (www.banksy.co.uk) is perhaps the medium’s greatest legend. Referred to alternately as artistic genius or simple vandalism, the sometimes scathing, often hilarious, satirical works of the British-born artist have been so influential that he has his own Wikipedia entry on the web and a number of published books. He has created both legal and illegal works on walls, bridges, streets, and even at zoos throughout the world.

As I wandered across the region, I began seeking these works, often located on the outskirts of the old city centers. What I found was that the quality of the ‘graffiti’ mirrored the degree of architectural grandness of the ‘hoods which they surround. The more beautiful the city, the more examples of carefully conceptualized and rendered works I saw. These pieces are sometimes dark and may not be categorized as ‘pretty’ in any conventional sense of the word. But their beauty lies in their powerful expression of the age in which we live, when youth contemplate with cynicism, the state of world affairs, and urban living generates energies of alienation and the need for individuation from a herd of others. Here are just a few samples of the Street Art of Andalucia.

Further Information

Must see/do at this place: If you want to see the best pieces of work then head to the walkway along the river in Sevilla.