BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA STREET ART & GRAFFITI: PEZ!

Pez translates to ‘fish.’ His tag has evolved into a smiling fish character. He’s from Barcelona, Spain, but is based here in Bogotá. However, he continues to travel the world, painting. Pictured below are some of this legend’s trademark murals in the La Candelaria area:

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Smiling & Backpacking in Bogotá

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Considered an ‘elitest bloodfest’ by many, bullfighting in Colombia is as controversial as it is popular. The season lasts from January to February and something like 600 bulls will meet their painful, gory demise in that period of time. Tickets are expensive, so regular wage-earning Colombians can’t get in. The idea of the powerful, wealthy elite making their ways into the stadiums to embrace the slaughtering of bulls for sport, just adds to the animosity and great divide between the upper and lower classes in Colombia. Most street art in Bogotá reflects this attitude.

All Pictures: 29SEP12. Bogotá, Colombia. 

BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA STREET ART: WHO’S GOT A GRENADE?! by DjLU

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On the side of a  building that sits on Calle 20. Santa Fe/La Candelaria.

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Both pictures: 29SEP12. 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.

IMG_7601DjLu Planter on Carrera 7

IMG_7589Lesivo planter

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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.

IMG_7599Toxicomano 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.

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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