“We are watching you.” Usaquén neighbourhood, Bogotá, Colombia. 2018.
The dream.
Autolike. On 7th Avenue. How many eyes?
“Madame rang?”. Cachivaches, a fab house supply store in Usaquén.
“1946. El pollo vive.” 1946, the chicken is alive. Er. Chicken?
Yes. That is street art. No arguing anyone.
“Don’t make my brown eyes blue”. Note the very fashionable thick eyebrows.
Anything with a view to the street can be street art.
“Memoria profunda de un mundo perdido.” Memory deep of a world lost.
The goddess of corn.
“Tambor guerrero.” War drum. I may have posted another mural of this artist. (Dragos? Do you remember?)
“To kill a hummingbird” by Harper Lee.
A scarf memory.
Uptown.
Downtown.
Thank you for flying Equinoxio’s Time-Space shuttle. Scotty is fixing the warp modules to hop back to Paris, 1944, and find my missing Uncle Gérard, somewhere in the raging combat to liberate Paris. (Did I really write “raging”? Almost as bad as “stunning”) Y’all be good naw.
Equinoxio 
The dream and the monkey are pretty awesome!
They are. And that was in the worst part of the city. Somehow the best art was in the most… dangerous places… Though on Holy Friday even the thugs were at church. 😉
Well, I suppose if they were done in the best parts of the cities then the cops would surely stop them. There is some wasted talent out there doing street art who should be doing creative things for a living. But, then again, we do enjoy their art regardless.
True. Though there is good street art even in the best parts, the other may be wilder. There is talent everywhere. And most never find an other outlet.
I wonder if given opportunity if their talent would blossom or if it is as good as it is because it is not necessarily “acceptable.”
Dunno. If you go back to the “Impressionists”, though they came from mostly “bourgeois” backgrounds, their art was a total rejection of the conventions of their days. And many sectors of society considered their work almost “indecent”.
Excellent point. I wonder though did any of them do their art on other people’s property which is part of the problem with street art.
They did not. And I agree about the “property” thing. Somebody paints my wall, it’s a tag, a graffiti. Go do it somewhere else. Now a concrete underbridge?
Some local authorities actually contract street artists. To give “life” to otherwise drab buildings. Happens here with the water wells. That is a good compromise.
THey do it here in places too. In fact a friend sent me a website recently that someone put together where they give tours of cool street art in Sacramento. We thought it might be fun to photograph one of these days. A great place to photograph a model in front of too.
Good point. A great background. 🙂
Having said that, It would be great if someone (a new type of galleriste) gave those street artists an outlet to sell their art. Remember that from the impressionists to the cubists, the merchants (gallerists) were key in finding outlets that allowed (some of) the artists to live from their art.
If someone takes a photo of the art and sells it is that against the law? That could be an interesting legal question. If I trespass and illegal paint on someone else’s property and then another person comes and photographs the art and then sells it on tshirts or something who owns it? The artist, the property owner or the photographer? Hhmm.
Don’t know. A good legal point. In Penang there is a well-know art of a little girl on a bike with her brother clinging to her and screaming. (I’ve posted it). Many vendors sell T-shirts with that image. I don’t think the artist gets a cent.
I imagine not. I could argue either way on that one.
Let’s leave it to the lawyers. 🙂
The sheer scale of ambition is breath-taking.
This time I like best the drawing near Juan Valdez Café, but the bench on the roof is also interesting and funny. Que triste es la memoria profunda de un mundo perdido…
I vaguely remember “Noriega” but can’t associate it with a particular drawing.
Agree with you on all. The bench was was quite unexpected. I like Unexpected. I’ll try to locate the other “tambor guerrero”. It was near the Public transport station.
Awsome this. And an interesting question: how come to worst part is the best part for street art? The Corn Goddess is smashing.
She is isn’t she? “Title” is invented actually.
Why is worst the best? Maybe because comfort kills talent? Or because extreme circumstances push human beings to pull the best out of themselves? 😉
Dear Brian, I had a great flight on the Time-Space shuttle this morning, my compliments to the captain! I enjoyed your spin with, “To kill a hummingbird”. So much beautiful street art, it’s sad for me to see these wonderful murals tagged with a not so arty graffiti, apparently this happens everywhere. My favorite of this group, “The dream”. 🙂 Have a lovely day! ~ Mia
Chère Mia, delighted that you had a good flight. 🙂
The “spin” came… naturally. As I was trying to find titles for the anonymous art. The overtagging does happen everywhere. The ephemeral nature of street art.
And I concur on “the dream”. One my favourites of this series.
A great day to you too.
Creativity did not fail you, clever title. 🙂 Thank you, have a great day too!
🙂
I love your finds. Outdoor graffiti art so often has such power in its vividness.
Thank you. I’ve only begun to appreciate Street art a few years ago. As usual there is good and bad. But There is immense talent out there. 🙂
How beautiful some of the big ones are! Not much in the way of street art over here, I’m afraid…
It probably goes against some cultural needs for cleanliness and order… 😉
Also, it must be difficult to paint a wall in dark winter, with your hands freezing and the spray can blocked by paint icicles…
Oh, true!!! Also the paint would wear off quickly in the weather 😁
Exactly! 🙂
Ps. ”Comfort kills talent” – interesting… there’s truth in that!
For sure. Without falling in the obvious ” get out of your comfort zone”, I think all us know that a bit of challenge draws the best out of ourselves. (Now a bit of peace isn’t bad either!) 😉
I wonder does it also mean you can never keep up the good work, the momentum??😉 Like if you get praised too much, you get writer’s block, or something similar
Not necessarily. Think back to some of your managers. You probably had bad managers, and one or two good ones. What made them good managers? Feedback. They could tell you where you were very good, and where you could improve. So the answer would be: Balance.
And from a personal perspective, to try and improve always. 😉
Not long ago I listened to a Colombian group’s album called “Elegancia Tropical”. Its artwork could very well have been stripped off these beautiful walls!
By Bomba Estereo, right? 🙂
Yes, it could have. 🙂
Indeed it was! 🙂
🙂 Funny we talked about them this week-end. Daughter #2 is a great fan.
thick eyebrows fashionable….I’d be a rock star there then 🙂 haha, nice work again Brian, lovely images, and you always make me want to travel the world to see these beautiful things 🙂
Glad to take you on those far away trips. 🙂
It’s a very colorful city, isn’t it? I could see myself getting lost in the beauty and never want to come home.
Yes, Beauty does that. You can get lost in Beauty. Easily. Thanks for the visits Kally. Hope all is well with you.
Just published a post “on” Singapore. I would very much appreciate your opinion. No rush.
Kam siah.
Wonderful Brian, I love the alive chicken and I seem to remember seeing similar figures on rooftops when I was in Bogota. A great collection of images.
Thank you Paul. That was quite a “street art safari”. Took us to the dark heart of the city.
So incredibly vibrant. That first photo…wow. I’m way behind on your posts Brian. Sorry. I’ve been taking a much needed break.
Hi Julie. No need to apologize. There is no rush between friends. I actually saw this comment as I was boarding the plane to Paris. 🙂 And haven’t been able to answer it yet. Glad you liked the post. How’ve you been? Hope the break was good. Enjoying home? Rediscovering is always a treat.
Cheers from Paris.
Beautiful!
Thank you. Glad you liked it.
Awesome!
good job
Grazie mille. 🙂