Cultura De Base Street Art Protest in Barcelona

A week and a half ago, I was in Barcelona and stumbled a protest that seemed well-organized and was immediately engaging. With my limited Spanish, I managed to pick up slogans like, “Beauty is not for sale,” and “Barcelona is dead.” It became immediately obvious that the protest was politically and artfully-motivated.

From an outside perspective, those statements seem extreme, especially considering Barcelona is known for its street art. Street art radiates practically from every corner of the city, and I’m not just talking meaningless little tags here and there. Barcelona is a storehouse of graffiti and street art pieces that actually look as though they took time, passion, commitment, and energy.

What then, caused this outpouring of anger from the art community of Barcelona?

Not many people in Spain speak English that well, so after an hour of standing around wondering, I finally decided to try my luck and ask around. In Spanish, I was told something along the lines of this. The protest stemmed from police actions that resulted in the closing of art spaces in a nearby neighborhood. The closed spaces were important hubs for musicians and artists alike, and as a result, the artistic community felt patronized and felt that bureaucratic decisions involving their livelihoods were being made without their input.

People of all ages participated in the peaceful protest, which was artistic in and of itself. A giant banner was unfurled on which visitors were allowed to scrawl their opinions. A booth tacked with, “Take off your pants!” encouraged visitors to defy the norm and take Polaroids of themselves naked.

It is only in a city like Barcelona with such a lively street art scene that such a demonstration can happen. While I cannot fully grasp the ramifications of all this bureaucracy on the Barcelona art community, I sincerely hope that it emerges from this better than before.

If you can read Spanish, head on over to culturadebase.net to find out more information about this movement. If you know more information about Cultura De Base, please share your knowledge. Thanks!

Street Artist Banksy Unmasked by the Daily Mail?

OUR ART BLOG HAS MOVED. CHECK OUT THE UPDATED BLOG AT http://www.redefinemag.com/arts/!

Banksy is legendary. In the UK, he’s pretty much a household name. Yet, mysteriously, very few people know who he really is. Those who do have done well through the years in keeping his name secret from the real public.

Much of Banksy’s work is humorous, and others have been known for subverting the media and popular icons. He’s had pieces of the Mona Lisa with a rocket launcher, crafted his own fake copies of Paris Hilton’s debut album, and made one of the UK’s most famous graffiti pieces — the one of two policemen kissing. Many of his projects have no doubt walked the line between the legal and the illegal, and some have clearly been illegal. Yet, no one has truly known who he was, and he has been safe from much scrutiny because of it.

But today the Daily Mail published an article that reveals who Banksy really is — or so they claim. It shows pictures of his work and house ‘he’ grew up in, reveals ‘his’ full name, and practically tells ‘his’ life story before he became Banksy. The article closes with a quote that Banksy by Banksy himself, saying to Swindle Magazine, “I have no interest in ever coming out. I figure there are enough self-opinionated a**holes trying to get their ugly little faces in front of you as it is.”

So why would the Daily Mail decide to share all this information and more (given that it is true)? It seems rather disrespectful.

If they aren’t correct, what about poor Robin Gunningham? Harassment incoming? People seem to be citing obituaries that detail a couple of deceased Robin Gunninghams… but that’s hardly worth anything, because who knows how many there are?

OUR ART BLOG HAS MOVED. CHECK OUT THE UPDATED BLOG AT http://www.redefinemag.com/arts/!

Kunsthaus Tacheles in Berlin, Germany

Kunsthaus Tacheles, sometimes known simply as Tacheles, is an artist loft on Berlin’s Oranienburger Straße. Slightly difficult to find, but very much worth the experience. Lots of great art, with artists from all over the world, making language barriers not too big a problem. Six floors covered with graffiti on every possible surface makes it slightly intimidating (at least at night), but if you’re in Berlin, Tacheles in a must-see.

Visit Tacheles’ website.

Artopia in Georgetown Strikes Again, Part 2

Dan Corson’s Spatial Matrix. Spatial matrixes are nothing new — I saw one at another gallery just a couple days ago — but this one is a little unique. It was an installation at the Georgetown brewery’s former “Engine Room”; clear indigo panels were put up over the windows, and steel cables ran from the ceiling to the floor, with neon stripes painted on them. The result looks is cables that almost look as though they are trembling.

Another view.

Head on over to Dan’s website to see more works. Although I’ve never known Dan’s name, I have seen his works throughout the city of Seattle, and his installations are actually quite commonplace throughout the city. Go take a look; you might be surprised, too.

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A playhouse encased in concrete? Artist unknown.

The Bald Man is watching you

Updated version, courtesy of Jeanine Anderson!

Ghost at BLVD Gallery

On display at the BLVD Gallery now through May 3rd is work by Ghost.