Tag: Bogotá

BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA STREET ART & GRAFFITI: A.P. C. CREW

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The A.P.C. Crew, whose acronym can stand for almost anything beginning with “Animal,” is the largest crew in Colombia, boasting 40 artists. The crew includes men and women and it may actually be the biggest crew in all of Latin America. Its most famous member is Stinkfish. Pictured below are fragments of a beautiful wall they have claimed on Carrera 4 in La Candelaria. 29SEP12. Bogotá, Colombia. (Canon 550D, Canon Lens EF 28mm)

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Stinkfish has a unique style. He usually takes pictures of people he sees on the streets of Bogota and then stencils them.

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BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA STREET ART & GRAFFITI: DJLU & LESIVO

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Gun Shooting Hearts

DjLu Stencil. On Carrera 3. La Candelaria. Bogota, Colombia. (iPOD Touch, Instagram, Lo-Fi aspect) Girl with Dynamite

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Lesivo. Carrera 4. Bogota, Colombia. (iPOD Touch, Instagram, Lo-Fi aspect) Dynamite

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DjLu. Juegasiempre + Woman + Grenade. Outside of planetarium, off of Carrera 7. Bogota, Colombia. 

BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA STREET ART & GRAFFITI: PICTURES OF YOU

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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)

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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)

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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)

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This piece is on Carrera 2 in a very mural-laden area. AUG12. Bogota, Colombia. 

BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA STREET ART & GRAFFITI: DEMENTED SPACE BIRDS

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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.

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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)

BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA STREET ART: “THE STORY OF EDDIE” by TOXICOMANO

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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:

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Take notice of Eddie covering his eyes. He can’t “see.”

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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…

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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.

BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA STREET ART & GRAFFITI: PAIS DE MIERDA

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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.

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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.

BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA STREET ART: DjLU, TOXICOMANO, & LESIVO

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* 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA STREET ART & GRAFFITI: “NO CRISIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR WAR”

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Again, I drove by on a bus one day and had to go back and take a closer look. It was risky here and a bit dangerous. Two men walked by me and told me I shouldn’t have my camera out in this area. I got pissed off and told them I have every right. They kept walking past me, but I really wanted to ask them why people think they have a right to just take what isn’t theirs. Pissed me off. Anyway, taking a closer look at the mural: it’s a protestation against the “Tratado de Libre Comercio,” – TLC – (Free Trade Agreement) – between India and South America (Colombia). This artist is equating India with Nazis. Negocio Redondo means “Windfall.” Crisis equals TLC equals War.

7OCT12. Carrera 10, Bogota, Colombia.

BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA STREET ART: REBEL ARTE’S “BLUE WALL OF POWER”

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Native Girl

On Saturday, I had driven by this in a bus and decided that I had to come back Sunday morning and photograph this mural. It’s beautiful and it symbolizes such hope and positivity. I knew I was in a bit of a dangerous area. It’s the kind of spot that you have to find out where the police are, and you have to keep looking around you for people that will creep up on you. I know it’s risky to brandish my camera, but I’m as careful as I can be and part of me gets really defensive if all of Bogotá simply accepts it as a fact that if you are using something that you worked really hard for to get, that someone is going to feel like it’s their right to take it from you. So, like I said, first, I find the police. Secondly, I put a whistle in my mouth, and thirdly, I take a picture and then do a 360 turn to make sure someone hasn’t crept up on me. When I was at this mural, I did catch a homeless man coming up behind me holding up something that resembled an umbrella poised for an attack, but as I saw him, I yelled at him and he turned around and walked away. This mural is on Carrera 10. If you want to check it out, take a friend to make you feel safer. It’s generally safe and there is a police presence.

No More Violence Against Women!

Unfortunately, domestic abuse is still prevalent in Colombian culture. Any time we see art like this, we need to praise it, acknowledge it, and adhere to it.

“Esta lote no esta en venta” means “This item is not for sale.”

This is incredible to see: art expressing freedom of sexual expression, stopping violence against women, encouraging Colombians to speak out against trade agreements that negatively affect them as a people…awesome. This portion of the mural also speaks out against child abuse and proclaims that education is a duty, it’s not a negotiation.

 7OCT12. Carrera 10, Bogotá, Colombia. 

BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA STREET ART: JOSÉ by DjLu

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Brilliant. I thought this was Jimi Hendrix, but research indicates it’s Jose, a Bogota rapper by DjLu. “Always game.” I think the ‘Skull Face’ is by Toxicomano. Bogota, Colombia. AUG12. (Instagram, Lo-fi aspect)