When Walls Come to Life

“Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal, a city where everybody could draw whatever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall - it's wet.”
― Banksy, Wall and Piece

I think Banksy might like Buenos Aires.

If it can be said that tango colors the night life of Buenos Aires, then it is street art that colors the day. Illegal on paper but accepted in practice, street art has become one of the most vibrant parts of the city’s landscape.  In addition to expressing the public voice, street art gives the colonial buildings a stamp of present day.

Living in Buenos Aires for two months I saw a lot of street art, but it was walking through the streets with Ana Montenegro, a very educated and down-to-earth guide of GraffitiMundo that brought the walls to life.  A highlight of the day was local artist JAZ's iconic 15-meter image of Gualicho, the “man among the people,” waving a spray can in the air as he sits astride a rearing horse.  I really enjoyed the style of Caballo, known for his stencil technique in which he uses contrast and comparison as he superimposes images using stencils made from discarded X-ray material. 

Venturing through the streets myself, I wondered what it must be like to be a street artist. Of course, any one can mark a street corner-- but there are many more things to consider. For example, a piece may take as long as three or four full days to finish, and all work is put on hold if it rains. Some building surfaces are flat, some brick. Larger images might require a ladder. Artists must pay out of pocket for all their materials, and they must commit to doing something illegal, usually in broad daylight. Despite these challenges, many have found their way in Buenos Aires, bringing not just color, but artistry and social commentary to walls that would otherwise simply collect dust.

Just as seasons change, so do the walls of the street. Pieces may last a few days before getting painted over; those that last for years are rare.  Probably the most famous and long-lasting piece in Buenos Aires is the expansive tribute to Argentina’s football legend Maradona, on the corner of avenidas Libertador and Dorrego.

Just next to this image of Maradona is a large wall often used for current political messages. When we visited, we saw a message dated two weeks old, posted by a local politican referring to an upcoming election. Next to it, an open space is colored with a sign pledging loyalty to current president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

So what exactly is street art?
Street art is a blanket term for anything from a hand-sized symbol to a 10-story mural that conveys a message in a public space.  It can be traced back to etchings in ancient cave-dwellings, but the modern form truly blossomed in the streets of New York city in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, as youth grabbed markers and began to sign their names, or nicknames on street corners.

Putting your stamp, as it were, on a street corner, began to be known as “tagging.”  Names appeared such as JULIO 204, or TAKI 183-- which were often some combination of a nickname and a street address.  In 1971 the New York Times took notice of the emerging art form and interviewed TAKI 183, one of the most widespread taggers at the time, bringing recognition and quick celebrity to the youth who plastered the streets.  I guess it is human nature to see appeal in becoming famous by doing something completely ordinary.  We see it today in the cyber realm of Youtube.

Tagging was controversial--many saw tagging as vandalism, and saw it as a means for gangs to stake out their territory. As corners filled up, tags needed to become bigger, brighter, and different in order to stand out. New styles emerged such as bubble letters and complex calligraphy, and the culture blossomed as spray paint came onto the scene and led the way to the art of graffiti.  

Buenos Aires, like most cities across the world, prohibited public defacement by law.  However, during the 1950’s, Argentine politicians paid artists to paint propaganda in the streets. The people rebelled, saying that if government employees can use the streets to convey a message, they could too! Thus came to be the “Reclamation of the Streets’ movement, when the streets of Buenos Aires truly started to bloom with color and voice.

During the tumultuous times of recent Argentine history, the streets have offered a much needed outlet for expression against the establishment. When military rule took over between  1976 to 1982, the streets provided a place for expression.  Starting in 1991, the Argentine government tied the peso to the US dollar in order to slow inflation and stabilize economic growth. It initially worked, but after 10 years when the government removed the peg, the value of the peso in relation to the dollar fell 75% in a matter of months. This crash brought another wave of anger at the establishment and more protest materialized on street walls.

Today, the Buenos Aires Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Public Spaces is in full support of their local street art culture.  They welcome the Meeting of the Styles festival, which is a graffiti event that brings local artists to a concentrated area to paint the walls for three contiguous days. It was during this festival that the iconic Gaulicho came to life.