You Are Here – Street Art In Melbourne Australia

Posted on November 11, 2013 by jaynezak

You Are Here – Street Art In Melbourne, Australia

“Some people want to make the world a better place. I just wanna make the world a better-looking place. If you don’t like it, you can paint over it!” Banksy (In Melbourne)

I guess what I love about street art is that it is art of the moment. It isn’t meant to be there forever. You are here . You can find these words on this spot on this wall.

The laneways covered in Melbourne street art have become one of the tourist attractions of the city. I’m not the only person taking photos. The street artists here work in all mediums from brushes, spray paint, stencils, street sculptures, paste ups, stickers, and installations.

It’s the first time I have seen street sculpture. It is small and hard to find – like beach treasures. Maybe as street art becomes more accepted and mainstream, artists have to find more creative ways to tell their stories. (soccer ball, but is it art?, eternity)

One of the main mural streets was painted over in bright blue by a street artist. The anti establishment street art movement? or just someone who had a lot to say in blue? It is already painted over.

I loved all the street art quotes and poetry.

There are a lot of references to literature and history . (founding fathers painted with Aborigine faces, koalas)

I love the outdoor galleries.

Tagging seems less popular. I hated to see some cool piece tagged over by jealousy or stupidity. I don’t usually mind graffiti but I do when it is covering street art. Seems a bit like a street art oxymoron.

“Do art not tags” is the name of a graffiti education presentation being offered in schools within the city of Melbourne. Actors visit classroom and provide information about the differences between graffiti and street art and how different choices can lead to different consequences.

The best way to see Melbourne Street Art is with Melbourne Street Art Tours. http://www.melbournestreettours.com The tours are given by street artists . You can join a group or hire them privately.

My tour guide was Michael Fikaris. He is an excellent artist as well. His portrait of Charles Bukowski was one of my favorites. He brought stickers and left them where he felt they needed to be. He was very knowledgeable about the art, artists and their stories. (Charles and Michael, commissioned wall by Michael Fikaris, you know who with a twist)

The great thing about going with Melbourne Street Tours is that you see art that you wouldn’t normally see. Some of the best stuff was in places I wouldn’t have gone to alone. They know where to show you the good art and avoid the mediocre.

You walk by so much street art , when you are out exploring the city. It is all colorful and fun, and hard to know where to look.

Street artists use the walls to raise social and political awareness, Others just want to show their artwork. Some are talented and some are enthusiastic.

Michael immediately points out the interesting pieces. There are some good artists working out on these streets and it was great to have Michael show them to me. I was getting overwhelmed with so much street art on one wall. I definitely would have missed a lot doing it on my own.

Melbourne Street Tours works out of Blender Studios. You end with a tour of the studios and meet some of the artists. There are pieces for sale but no pressure to buy. Of course I got home and wished that I had bought more. They also run street art workshops and school programs.

This was the first thing I did in Australia. It turned out to be one of my favorite things. They also made me feel very comfortable on my first day in their country. It set the tone for a wonderful trip. Whether you are visiting or if you live in Melbourne, I recommend going to see the street art with Melbourne Street Tours. Even If you pass these streets everyday, I guarantee you will see new things with them.

Fly safe,

JAZ

White Walls Say Nothing – Urban Art In Buenos Aires

Posted on June 30, 2013 by jaynezak

White Walls Say Nothing – Urban Art In Buenos Aires

“First day of Advanced Art, my teacher said “I bet none of you know an artist who is currently alive” I raised my hand and said “Banksy” he shook his head and said he wasn’t a real artist, that is when I knew he wasn’t a real art teacher.” Ariel Dennis

Streets are the world’s biggest gallery and in Buenos Aires, graffimundo are the curators. graffitimundo is a nonprofit organization that promotes street art in Buenos Aires. They have group tours every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 3 :00 PM and private tours available. It is a great way to see the street art of Buenos Aires. Contact them at http://graffitimundo.com/.

It is not exactly illegal to paint on the outside walls in Buenos Aires. As long as the artists have the consent of the building owners, it is fine. There are many unoccupied spaces and dividing walls between buildings. This gives plenty of locations for artists to bring a wall to life.

It is possible to come across artists painting during the day on the walls. This is unheard of in most other cities. Urban artists come from all over the world to paint here. They don’t have to run in the night and have time to create some beautiful thought-provoking pieces.

I love graffiti art. My dog is named after a graffiti artist. It is the art of the community. People have always written on walls-from cave paintings to love hate propaganda to murals of epic detail and size. You have to be really committed to paint on a wall knowing it won’t be there forever. The paint will fade, cracks will form or someone can paint over it. It’s a product of the moment. It is art for art’s sake and not for sale.

I don’t even mind the writing graffiti. It is some form of communication. When I used to see the freshly painted writing on the trains in NY (I thought it looked great), I would think – another person who has a found a way to express his anger without a gun. Of course, I’m not the woman in Buenos Aires who washes it off her walls every day or the people who clean up hate crimes of “art”. There was one street where a father kept writing I love you to his kids. I wonder what he did that he had to write it all over the walls. There are always stories.

Johnny Robson was my tour guide and founder of graffitmundo. They started it because they thought the urban art scene in Buenos Aires was amazing. There was no information about it. graffitimundo was formed to help share what they had learned with anyone who was interested. It was their way to support people who were incredibly talented and under appreciated.

Johnny is passionate and knowledgeable about the art, artists and their style of painting on the streets of BA. Every artist and every picture tells a story and Johnny is only too happy to tell them all. Halfway into the tour , I find myself recognizing artists and styles. The pieces are dynamic. Some express political and social messages and some may just express emotion. They are filled with energy, color and life.

You get to see streets all over Buenos Aires as well. On the tour we visited walls in Palermo, Villa Crespo, Chacarita and Colegiales.

I loved the collaborative pieces. In the early graffiti years, Crews (art gangs) have always worked together to paint on the subways and streets. This gave way to Collaboratives – sometimes political -that could do more than an individual artist. According to Johnny, the artists are happy to share the walls with other talented artists. Another reason urban artists like to paint in BA.

We stop off at Hollywood in Cambodia (great name for a gallery) an urban art gallery located on the first floor above Post Bar in Palermo with a rooftop terrace. Americans would probably call it the second floor. It is run by a few art collectives. I want to buy everything, but settle on a couple of pieces that I can carry.

There is not an empty space of wall in the bar below either.

The title of this piece is also the title of a documentary that will be out soon. “White Walls Say Nothing” is a feature documentary, produced by White Wall Industries in association with graffitimundo. It is the story of Buenos Aires Urban Art Scene as told by the artists. I can’t wait to see it.

I highly recommend this tour in Buenos Aires if you are interested in modern art or street culture. For hipsters and scenesters it is the coolest thing to do (unless you are actually painting on the walls)

I’m still amazed by the amount of street art and quality of some of the pieces I saw that day. I turned a corner and I saw a painting that I wanted to look at for a long time . I watched people walk by and not even look up. It’s crazy that they didn’t see what they were missing. Because art , like luck is where you find it.

Viaje con cuidado,

JAZ

Looking For Francisco Toledo In Oaxaca, Mexico

Posted on May 1, 2013 by jaynezak

Looking for Francisco Toledo In Oaxaca, Mexico

” Oaxacan art tends to depict one theme: the appearance in our history of another time and place. A space within another space. A time within another time.”” Alberto Blanco

“I was in Oaxaca once”, said a friend. “When I was in Junior High, I went with my friend to visit her father. He is an artist in Oaxaca. You should see his work. His name is Francisco Toledo. “

When I arrived in Oaxaca at this beautiful hacienda hotel La Casona De Tita http://www.lacasonadetita.com.mx ) I asked about him. ‘ He is the most famous artist in Oaxaca and maybe the most famous living artist in Mexico today.” (breakfast area)

Toledo’s art is imbued with his Mexican heritage of history and mythology. It is Pre -Colombian meets his favorite artists -Goya,Klee Miro Tapies, Tamayo plus Borges and Kafka. He has exhibited in many galleries in Mexico, Europe, South and North America and Asia. He is represented in public and private collections worldwide. Toledo’s work is based in part on the largely misunderstood shamanistic notion of the nagual, the belief that each human’s fate is intertwined with that of an Aztec spirit in animal form.” (Toledo)

The next day I met our local guide Pati Reyes. She is a dancer who loves art and artists. “They are all my friends here. I will introduce you to Francisco Toledo if he is in town,” she said in Spanish.

We go to IAGO (Institute of Graphic Arts in Oaxaca). It has a wonderful art library (66,000 books) and the largest collection of prints (over 7,000 works) in Latin America. The library is free thanks to Toledo who has donated it to the city. Antique presses are used as tables to display books at IAGO. Art openings there can be crazy; mezcal is poured by the gallon from red plastic gas cans.

Quetzalli, the gallery that represents Toledo, is in Casa Oaxaca and because of him other artists come. Writers and artists visit from all over Latin America, including Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez.

The vigor of Oaxaca’s art scene is visible in the galleries that occupy its downtown corners and the colors that pop off the canvas as local arts . Its art is integral to the character of the city, and an outcome of its amazing backdrop. One night we saw an exhibit called Takeda vs Herrera at the Museum of Oaxacan Painters..It was filled with people all talking about the art. The excitement , stimulation and inspiration is felt everywhere.

The Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Oaxaca (MACO) is perhaps the best example of Oaxaca’s artistic tradition and its ongoing contributions to the art world. Its position near the Santa Domingo Plaza and just a few blocks from the zócolo makes MACO a routine stop for both casual tourists and serious art aficionados. Permanent exhibitions are dedicated to Oaxaca natives Francisco Toledo, Rodolfo Morales, Rufino Tamayo, Rodolfo Nieto and Francisco Gutierrez. (exhibit)

I meet Venancio Velasco. He is the twenty year old artist who is the recipient of the Cultural Xplorers Scholarship to continue his studies in art. He works mostly in woodblock printmaking. The scholarship was started by Cultural Xplorers founder Jim Kane who is always looking for ways to make a positive impact on the countries he visits.

When you speak to Venancio, you understand that he has the soul of an artist . Art is about an emotional connection. Either you have one or you don’t. I connected immediately with his work. This is why I think he has the ability to go very far in the art world. It is exciting to see him at the beginning of his journey . I look forward to seeing his work evolve and supporting his career.

Composition, interpretation and values are key to defining an artist. Venancio’s art is straightforward and abstract, blending emotion with the animals and people of his culture. Everything tells a story and Venancio is happy to share the stories with you.

Shinzaburo Takeda is a master printmaker and artist who brought the first Japanese woodblock tools to Oaxaca. He is a professor and chair of the school of art at Benito Juarez University. He is Venancio’s teacher and one of the judges of the scholarship. He believes in Venancio as an artist of great promise and enjoys nurturing his individual vision. (Venancio and Maestro Takeda)

Maestro Takeda feels that Oaxacan artists have a special gift for printmaking. He jokes that there is so much printmaking going on in Oaxaca that it will sink like Venice under the weight of the printing presses.Though he grew up in Japan, his art is infused with Mexican culture. He is devoted to nurturing the artists of Mexico’s poorest families. The Takeda Biennial is an all-Mexico print competition with many extraordinary entries all honoring Shinzaburo Takeda.

I learn about ASARO. It stands for Assembly of Artist Revolutionaries in Oaxaca. ASARO is a printmaking artists collective and was founded in 2006, during a time of barricades, tear gas, and mass arrests. The ASARO group took great risks to paste topical protest prints on the walls in those days.

There are dozens of art venues ranging from libraries, galleries, coffee houses, restaurants, and mescal bars. My room in the hacienda has some extraordinary pieces hanging on the walls. All the artwork at the hotel is for sale. Exhibitions hang for as little as a week, so there might be several openings a night. Oaxaca’s two daily newspapers send reviewers to cover art openings even at small cooperative galleries. I buy two of Venancio’s prints and the most amazing photograph by local artist Pablo Santaella.

Though I don’t meet Francisco Toledo on this trip, his influence is all over the city He is widely known for not only contributing to the art world in Oaxaca and young artists, but he is an unfailing advocate of Oaxaca’s best interests and has the ear of whoever is in power at the time, often affecting big municipal decisions with his passionate pleas to preserve the environment and integrity of Oaxaca and her history. He brought art to the Oaxacan people. (self portrait by Toledo)

One of the things I have learned from traveling is that good art happens everywhere. There are artists working in every field in every medium in every country. I can’t wait to return to Oaxaca and see what they are creating next.

Fly safe,

JAZ

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Category Archives: art

You Are Here – Street Art In Melbourne Australia

White Walls Say Nothing – Urban Art In Buenos Aires

Looking For Francisco Toledo In Oaxaca, Mexico