From Galleries to Walls
From Galleries to Walls
The Rise of Latin American Street Art
When traveling in Latin America in 1992 I remember art as something that hung in galleries and museums. Whatever was painted on walls was, for the most part, crude political slogans. Derogatorily it was called graffiti, illicitly defacing public places. In the 21st century, it has been renamed into street art for good reason.
At the FICCI 2023, the Cartagena film festival, a documentary Chile Estyle by Pablo Aravena was shown that vividly explained that transition.
From its humble beginnings in Chile in 1998, the history of street art in this thin country also represents trends that I have seen in other Latin American countries. This new form of art can often be found in disenfranchised neighborhoods where unattractive buildings used to add to a sense of gloom.
The most famous example is the Comuna 13 in the shanty towns of Medellin, Colombia. A notorious neighborhood of gang violence, it is now considered one of the city’s top tourist attractions. I decided to forgo an organized tour, and after taking public transport I hired a lovely local young guide on the street and bought green mango from her mother, who had a stand in front of one of those murals.
Comuna 13 – Medellin, Colombia 2022
Please click on the images to enlarge.
Once a dilapidated unsafe neighborhood, Rio de Janeiro’s Lapa has become a street art mecca. Among other themes, Brazil’s rich traditions of different ethnicities are skillfully memorialized on the walls of a once affluent area that fell into disrepair in the second part of the 20th century as everybody moved to the beaches.
Revisiting the hipster neighborhood of Gethsemane in Cartagena in 2023, two years after my first visit, I noticed how fast the mural colors were fading in the tropical sun. But there was evidence of people restoring them or painting new ones. Street Art has reached the commercial level, with business owners drawing attention to their outfits with cleverly placed art.
In Pucallpa, Peru, I saw local legends depicting the elusive pink dolphin on walls, an educational tool for children to learn from.
Decorating neglected outdoor spaces is a wonderfully empowering movement. The grey concrete building masses that were a daily reminder to its inhabitants of an inhumane world are being transformed into art. In the Chilean documentary, a homeowner thanks the artists for making his house beautiful and improving his quality of life. Whenever I see a stunning, lovingly executed wall painting, it gives me great joy. I applaud the painters who democratically make their art available to all.
Getsemani – Cartagena, Colombia 2023
