The artist Rodez is considered a legend on the streets of Bogotá. He’s in his late 50’s-early 60’s and he is a published children’s book illustrator/designer when not painting on the streets. Keeping his passion all in the family, he paints with his two sons, Nomada and Malegria. The three of them are from Colombia, but are based in Buenos Aires. Here are some highlights below:
29SEP12. Bogotá, Colombia.
RTZ is one of the newer street artists emerging in Bogotá. He has three quite prominent murals stationed in La Candelaria. 29SEP12. Bogotá, Colombia.
On Carrera 4. La Candelaria.
Some of his signature symbols are big alligators and frogs. In the Plaza off of Carrera 2.
This is in honor of an upcoming festival celebrating indigenous culture. Prior to last week, an APC Crew (the largest group of artists in Latin America, includes Stinkfish) mural had been up for several months. No one knows if RTZ was given permission to put this up, or if he’s too green to realize whose mural he covered up. 156 All Starz is a crew out of New York and RTZ must have allowed them to put their tag on it. La Candelaria.
Gun Shooting Hearts
DjLu Stencil. On Carrera 3. La Candelaria. Bogota, Colombia. (iPOD Touch, Instagram, Lo-Fi aspect) Girl with Dynamite
Lesivo. Carrera 4. Bogota, Colombia. (iPOD Touch, Instagram, Lo-Fi aspect) Dynamite
DjLu. Juegasiempre + Woman + Grenade. Outside of planetarium, off of Carrera 7. Bogota, Colombia.
Man with a Camera
I love this. It’s on the wall of a big indoor market in La Candelaria off of Carrera 2. AUG12. Bogota, Colombia. (iPAD, Instagram, Lo-Fi aspect)
Girl on a Lamppost
This mural is painted on the bottom of a lamppost on Carrera 7. AUG12. Bogota, Colombia. (iPOD Touch, Instagram, Lo-Fi aspect)
Einstein’s Love Equation
I can’t remember where I saw this, but I was glad I did. Somewhere in La Candelaria. AUG12. Bogota, Colombia. (iPOD Touch, Instagram Lo-Fi aspect)
This piece is on Carrera 2 in a very mural-laden area. AUG12. Bogota, Colombia.
This is a crazy, colorful birds gone wild in the universe mural! It was my first time to see it and I don’t know the artist, nor what it means. Standing so close to it getting a picture, did not do as much for me as getting home and looking at it with more perspective. 23SEP12. Bogota, Colombia.
Another one that I unfortunately don’t know what artist (#ASER) to give credit to…I walk by this guy every weekend on Calle 20 and he never changes. He’s always up to no good. Plus, he seems to know what I’m thinking. 23SEP12. Bogota, Colombia. (Canon 550D Canon Lens EF 28mm)
Toxicomano used to be a band, but now they are an art collective comprising of an artist, a publicist, a sociologist, and an A/V producer (bogotagraffiti.com.) Their prevalent themes are anti-imperialism/anti-capitalism. From what I understand, the punk boy character is named Eddie…he’s a drug addict, a lost soul. Then I believe, the older conservative character you also see, is Eddie all grown up. This has yet to be confirmed. See below:
Take notice of Eddie covering his eyes. He can’t “see.”
Eddie, dressed conservatively behind the woman with the T.V. head, is blindfolded…still can’t “see.” Then, the blindfold is off, only the woman’s hands are covering his eyes, and the T.V. screen says “Now I can see!” The skull and crossbones on the front of her dress indicate that this isn’t necessarily a good thing for Eddie, who seems to be compromising his past ideals…
It appears that once Eddie “sees,” the woman is horrified by what she had a hand in doing, and he either begins to die, or becomes an evil capitalist…the creation of a monster.
All Pictures: 29SEP12. Bogotá, Colombia.
I arrived in Bogotá at night and the first mural that struck me on my ride from the airport to my apartment, was this one, “Pais de Mierda.” I always wanted to go back and read it to learn more about it. It’s Jaime Garzon, a former political satirist, lawyer, journalist, and peace activist. He was very popular on Colombian television in the 90’s. He was murdered in 1999 and his killers have never been found. Directly translated, “Pais de Mierda” means “Shitty Country.” To the bottom right, you can see Che Guevara and “Todo el Poder al Pueblo,” which means “All Power to the People.” Between Garzon and Guevara, is a stencil of Lenin and below him, “Red.” 23SEP2012 Bogota, Colombia.
This is a new one I found on a wall off of Carrera 7. I zoomed in on this character, but it’s a part of a much larger picture titled “Lucha,” which means “Fight.” The whole piece is full of grenades, bullet cases, and other military paraphernalia that are flying around chaotically in a fury, really demonstrating the violence of war. 23SEP12. Bogotá, Colombia.
* Tokidoki hit the max space limit last week, so I am reconfiguring my blog in order to keep it running smoothly and to feature premier content only! So, I’ve been revisiting older posts and deleting and editing in an effort to streamline the content. Here is one of my first posts ever ~ as I started this blog while living in Bogotá, Colombia in 2012 and Bogotá is where my passion for street art and graffiti was born:
Please follow me on my journey as I seek to learn all about the street artists’ work that I admire so much here in Bogotá. For example, today I realized that a lot of the work that I thought was solely Lesivo’s, was really also Toxicomano’s and DjLu’s?! I found this out by researching what I could online and by also going through my pictures and seeing the distinctive styles. Well, they’re becoming more distinctive…
Throughout Bogotá, the city’s walls and its lampposts are covered, so the next logical surface are planter boxes. On Carrera 7, there are at least three blocks of planters decorated with the art of DjLu and Lesivo. I think they’re new as of this weekend. Bogotá appears proud of its artists and seems to consider their creations as something that beautifies the city.
DjLu Planter on Carrera 7
Lesivo planter
The picture above is a closer look at the type of stencil work that is on at least fifty planters on Carrera 7. “juegasiempre” means “always game.”
Also pictured above, is another planter box on Carrera 7. This time, it’s Lesivo! I think this mural refers to money being evil and how a person can start out beautiful, pure, and idealistic, but the influence of money can corrode one’s soul. I don’t understand the politics of Colombia enough to really say, but it appears to be a reference to the political leaders.
Toxicomano in the Macarena
I captured this shot out of a taxi window. “Somos muchos mas” directly translates into “We are so much more.” This is a beautiful mural by Toxicomano and it’s featured in the Macarena.
This is my favorite piece by Toxicomano. “Los Feos Somos Mucho Mas Bonitos” directly translates into “The Ugly are Much More Beautiful.” I have no facts to go on, but I interpret it as a political statement condemning the wealthy elite, saying that all citizens need to be heard and represented.
The picture above is one of my favorite symbolic Lesivo images. I like his inclusion of cameras and photographers in his works. I mentioned in a previous post that I think they represent the idea “…so that we don’t forget…” and I’m sure that phrase is referring to something political, but I have yet to uncover to exactly what . Stay tuned as I go deeper and deeper into the art on Bogotá’s streets (and walls and lampposts and planters and…) – All pictures: Bogotá, Colombia 23/24SEP2012
This isn’t an easy one to get a picture of. It is behind police tape for some reason and a cart is obstructing part of it (but, I won’t let you see that.) This is in El Chorro Plaza. La Candelaria.
Free your mind. Artist, GM. El Chorro Plaza. first time I’ve gotten to use my Canon on this. Usually it’s my iPOD at dusk.
What the mural looks like in its entirety. A child’s mind is free and freedom flies past the cage without getting trapped. And freedom flies on. Artist, GM.
I’m a sucker for murals with cameras or sharks. Or monkeys or Storm Troopers. 😉 Anyway, this is Nomada’s up in El Chorro…he has a sea mural on the side of a shop and a hostel. Christian Peterson brings you here on his Bogota Graffiti Tour. http://bogotagraffiti.com/
1DEC12. La Candelaria, Bogota, Colombia. Canon 550D-Lens EF 18-135mm
on Cra. Treinta.
24NOV12. Bogotá, Colombia. Canon 550D, Canon Lens EF 18-135mm.
