“I laugh at the way some people think graffiti is all selfish tagging and vandalism. Thoughtful street art is like good fiction – it speaks out on behalf of everyone, for us all to see.” Carla H Krueger
This picturesque port city of Valparaiso or Valpo as it is called to locals attracts artists from all over the world who proudly come to leave their mark on its walls.
The city has become internationally known as an open canvas for the creative urban artists.
You can visit Valparaíso and discover plenty of magnificent art on your own. But, for those low on time, and high on interest, I recommend taking the street art tour with Al Ramirez.
Al is a graffiti artist.
Graffiti has gained recognition from the art world more and more as a legitimate form of art.
While tags are probably the most popular forms of stylized writing, graffiti art is much more than that.
It can mean a colorful mural with a message or a black and white stencil piece. In each case, graffiti art makes a statement.
The tour includes all kinds of street art.
“We are not Hippies, We are Happies” might just be the most popular piece of street art in all of Valparaíso. It was painted by Art + Believe, an English creative duo based in Brighton, UK and is located on one of Valparaíso’s most central streets. You may have to fight your way through the crowds to get a picture as it’s always packed with photo-happy tourists.
The most famous Valpo born artists is INTI. INTI’s murals are massive, his work literally demanding attention. It’s impossible to walk by one his monumental paintings without taking notice. He’s become quite the legend among street artists in Chile and has left his mark in almost every corner of the globe.
I learned on the tour that Pablo Neruda (Valparaiso’s most famous resident) invited artists to get creative in his city.
Consider it the social media of the day – as politicians now tweet their latest opinions to the masses, the street artists would spread their political messages via art.
Under the Pinochet dictatorship, street art in Chile emerged as a form of protest. It is still a form of protest today.
Street art is about communication, whether it is a beautiful mural, or fancy bubble letters.
I read everything. I’m a huge fan of walls that tell a story. (or stairs)
“I spray the sky fast. Eyes ahead and behind. Looking for cops. Looking for anyone I don’t want to be here. Paint sails and the things that kick in my head scream from can to brick. See this, see this. See me emptied onto a wall.”Cath Crowley
When I walk down the streets in Venice, California there is everything from simple tagging to beautiful complex scenes. I always see art- despite the sometimes rough locations. Cities are the best art galleries to me. When I am looking at freedom of expression or paid murals, I am forced to acknowledge their existence. It is color and expression instead of drab walls. Ihave always felt– better spray cans then guns. Here are some examples of art that I see every day.
“Latin America is very fond of the word “hope.” We like to be called the “continent of hope.” Candidates for deputy, senator, president, call themselves “candidates of hope.” This hope is really something like a promise of heaven, an IOU whose payment is always being put off. It is put off until the next legislative campaign, until next year, until the next century.”Pablo Neruda
Eat at Borago. which is one of the top Michelin starred restaurants in the world.
See the street art that defines Valparaiso.
Visit the homes of Pablo Neruda.
See the Museum of Memory and Human Rights commemorating those who suffered under the Pinochet regime.
Visit Chiloe Island and hope it isn’t raining,
Visit the art museums and galleries of Santiago.
Eat Chilean empanadas (different from Argentinian ones). Drink Pisco Sours.(like Peruvian Pisco Sours). Have Chilean hot dogs (different from American ones.)
Have a ski day in the Andes Mountains.
See Castro which is famous for its colored wooden houses built on stilts. I love colored houses.
Spend a day visiting Chilean wineries and Vino Del Mar.
“California, that advance post of our civilization, with its huge aircraft factories, TV and film studios, automobile way of life… its flavorless cosmopolitanism, its charlatan philosophies and religions, its lack of anything old and well-tried rooted in tradition and character. “J.B. Priestley
“I was here but now I’m gone. I left my name to carry on. Those who liked me, liked me well. Those who didn’t can go to hell'” The bathroom wall
Like any subculture, street art has its own slang. You don’t need to know it to appreciate the art but some words that pop up are spot jocking (putting your work up next to a popular artist for some attention), child style, tiling, (both self-explanatory ), reverse graffiti (creating art by taking off and not applying paint) and one that I heard a lot on my street art tour of Lisbon – intervention. (Sainer)
It’s not a word I hear often unless it involves rehab. Intervention is a street art term used to disrupt public space as opposed to street art which is decorative. Mystreet art guide in Lisbon used the wordas a form of urbanartistic expression. Art intervention is art specifically designed to interact with an existing structure.I guess with that definitionall street art can be called an intervention.
The only street art tour I could find was a private tour given by the street art collective Underdogs. http://www.under-dogs.net/ They have a gallery with exhibitions of interesting street artists, affordable editions at their shared store space, and public art and community programs. They do not do group toursand instead invest their time in promoting artists and arteducation in the community. (Bicicleta Sem Freio)
My tour guide Marina Rei shows up full of passion and enthusiasm for the art on the streets of her city.She is excited about the artists in residence and the educational programsshe has just completed.
Underdogs was started by a famous Portuguese street artist named Vhils.The word underdog means to struggle against something more powerful than you. They are “underdogs pushing to be top dogs .” (Vhils)
The tour includes works by Alexandre Farto AKA Vhils, PixelPancho, How & Nosm, ±MaisMenos±, Finok, Okuda, Nunca, Clemens Behr, Bicicleta Sem Freio, Wasted Rita, Sainer and Ernest Zacharevic. (Clemens Behr)
Their souvenir shop and offices share space with a paint store. Classic artists, students, serious street artists and vandals come to buy their paint. ( ±MaisMenos±,)
Their art gallery is in an old warehouse area just starting to be gentrified. The current exhibition is by Spanish street artist Okuda.
StreetArt started in Lisbon around 1974 when the Carnation Revolution overthrew the Authoritarian regime. Almost allthe territories becameindependent.(A Lei Do Meis Forte -Nomen, Slap ,Kurtz, Exas,Lukas)
Graffiti and tagging began with the new democracy. (Merkel’s Puppets -Nomen,Slap,Kurtz)
Murals appeared around the city similar to those in unstable South American countries portraying the problems and the dreams. There are still references to it throughout the city.
The old warehouses of Clube Naval de Lisboa, are now covered in a work of art by Bicicleta Sem Freio, a group of Brazilian artists. They create murals around the world.
My favorite work that I saw that daywas a series of girlsby Lithuanian street artist Ernest Zacharevic. He sees himself as a fine artist who paints in the streets and that is evidenced by the combination of spray paint and detailed art.I really wanted one of these. The last time I thought about cutting a piece of street art out of the wall it was by a guy named SAMO in New York.
Theoutdoor walls in Lisbon have become a lot of blank canvases for the artists. It is sometimesa strong form of communication and sometimes it is quieter. But, there is always a splash of color.
“Art is an evolutionary act. The shape of art and its role in society is constantly changing. At no point is art static. There are no rules.” Raymond Salvatore Harmon
Street art in Amsterdam is more satirical and fun then the street art in Third World countries.
It is much more accepted and looked at as art not vandalism.
Amsterdam doesn’t have as much street art as Paris , London or Berlin, but if you have a good guide you will find it.
It is not that hard to find nice street art in Amsterdam.
I had actually never done a group street art tour because it never fit into my schedule in a city.
It was interesting to see the range of people who were interested in street art.- an older couple from Belgium, middle-aged couple from Shoreditch,who were very proud to be where Banksy was from, and people from Canada and the States who were living in or visiting friends in Amsterdam.
Nicole is self taught and passionate about street art. She knows a great deal about the art and the artists and has made a career from her passion and knowledge curating street art in Europe. It is nice to have a tour with someone who clearly loves it as much as the people who signed up for the tour.
Good street art will tell you a lot about the people who live there.
C215, Alice Pasquini, Space Invader, The London Police, Shoe, Faile, Icy & Sot, Bustart, Zaira, are all showing in the streets of Amsterdam.
The London Police are a British street art collective currently painting all over Amsterdam.
I loved seeing Icy and Sot’s boy Walking Alone in different places in the city. It was like running into a friend. He is all over Europe now and for some reason he reminds me of the refugees and how lucky I am.
Laser 3.14 is a street poet whose words are found all over Amsterdam on temporary surfaces only.
There is a lot more street sculpture in cities around the world these days. They are usually small and easy to miss without a guide.
Invader is a street artist known for creating tile pieces that are out of video games.
He created an app called Flash Invaders that gives you points for finding his work all over the world. He has made a game out of the hunt for street art. Nicole is doing well. I just saw a huge one on Beverly Blvd in LA.
Street art started as a creative outlet but has turned into a legitimate business with tours, galleries, books, design, fashion and art.
It definitely has more of an art movement feeling in European cities than the protest feel of South American countries.
Street art is always beautiful, funny, moving and in this moment in time.
“Just give me a thousand words and you may make your own pictures.”
Erica Goros
I have been instagramming for about half of the year. I see the world in pictures anyway so it is really fun for me. I learn as I go. I have “internet brain” now. i think it’s going to be a real thing. It is getting harder and harder to immerse myself in a book or lengthy article. It is much easier to spend time looking at photos that have nothing to do with anything, places I want to go or have been or finding the perfect emoji to put on my comment. My topic hopping, time-wasting, hashtagging, bad spelling sessions have resulted in this blog. (No particular order)
#sunset (Yesilkurt,Turkey)
#hiking in#redmountain (St. George, Utah)
T
impossibly#wide #beach (Marajo, Brazil)
Can you take a bad #Venice photo? (Italy)
#car in#cuba (Varadero,Cuba)
#streetart in #bogota (Colombia)
Holding up the #mountain just noticed the #cross (Tilcara, Jujuy, Argentina)
#cactus or #cacti (Jujuy, Argentina)
#sunset makes the best #photo (Izmir, Turkey)
Another boring day in #marajo (Belém, Brazil)
None of my LA photos made it into the top ten. Instagram likes me out-of-town, with mountains, a beach and a great sunset. I agree.
“Speak softly, but carry a big can of paint.” Banksy
You don’t have to look for street art in Brazil because in cities like Rio and Sao Paulo, you will see it every where. (Sao Paulo)
It is part of the Brazilian culture now and a big influence on urban art throughout the world. (Sao Paulo)
Urban Art In Brazil falls into two categories – street art for everyone to see and enjoy and graffiti writing which seems to be for other graffiti writers – with coded tags, style of letter and specific color palettes. Graffiti art has rules, specific use of materials (almost always spray paint), easy recognizable styles and a history. (Sao Paulo)
Street art uses many different materials (paintbrush, computer generated images and spray paint). (Sao Paulo – Beco de Batman)
Street art engages us as we walk or drive by and see something beautiful, sad, funny or painful. (Sap Paulo)
Graffiti art always seems like personal message that we are seeing.
Both are subversive art movements where work is displayed in a public setting for a brief period. (Rio)
It is always the knowing that it wont be there the next time I come that makes it more special to me – that it wasn’t painted to be there forever. (Sao Paulo)
Tagging is different from graffiti. It is known in Brazil as pichacao. (Rio)
The tagger wants to see his name on a wall and has no interest in aesthetics. It is all over Brazil as well. (Rio)
Brazil’s street art is very diverse and always willing to challenge the political, environmental and social climate. (Rio – Lapa)
Urban art is different in Brazil then in other countries because it is everywhere with an abundance of styles, colors and techniques. (Sao Paulo)
In March 2009, the Brazilian government passed a law making street art and graffiti legal if done with the consent of building owners. (Sao Paulo-Kobra)
It is all around from the favelas to the upper class neighborhoods with consent or without. (Rio)
The walls that exist all over the cities whether urban topography or security provide huge spaces for painting. (Sao Paulo)
The cities of Brazil are a giant canvas for the self-expression of their artists. (Sao Paulo)
“The world lies in the hands of those who have the courage to dream and who take the risk of living out their dreams – each according to his or her own talent.” Paul Coelho
The name Brazil comes from the brazilwood tree (which I’m sure I took pictures of but have so many tree photos in the Amazon). In Portuguese it is called pau brazil. The tree produces a deep red dye, highly valued in the European clothing industry and was the first commercially exploited product in Brazil.
The Brazil nut tree is a different tree only found in the Amazon. (Belem)
Brazil is the only country in South America that speaks Portuguese and the largest Portuguese speaking country. It is very hard to understand Portuguese but easy to read if you speak Spanish. The pronunciation is very different from the spelling that we are used to. Very few people speak Spanish which is interesting considering all their neighboring countries do. They teach English in the schools instead. (Paraty, pronounced para-chee. We have cold beer and cake?)
Brazil does not like conflict or war. They don’t even like to say the word war. When a civil war breaks out they call it a revolution.
Brazil sent three thousand soldiers to World War II reluctantly on the side of Italy and Germany but quickly changed sides when the opportunity presented itself to do so.
There are more species of monkeys in Brazil than anywhere else in the world. This is a very hungry marmoset. I was being nice and offered to share my banana because I was hungry also. He came very close to me and started screaming and showing his teeth for the rest of it. They may look cute but they are predators. Everyone else got the good pictures. I was dealing with the banana. Guess who won? (Rio pronounced Rio)
Brazilian food is super good. (Belem street food -Tacaca with shrimp and jambu)
Caipirinha is the national drink of Brazil. it is made with cachaca. (pronounced ca-chasa) (Paraty)
Brazil’s homicide rate is 25 per 100,000 people. This is the closest photo I had. I was getting a tour of the opera house in Belem when I turned my head and saw a cop with a gun in someone’s back. If it was the US, they probably would have shot him.
The longest traffic jam in the world took place in Brazil.
There are at least 15 girls in every favela more beautiful than Beyoncé.
Street art is all over Brazil ,from professional or crude to tagging. (São Paulo – Cobra)
54% of the population has European ancestry.
.
The Acai berry is grown in Brazil, which is believed to prevent cancer, help with weight loss, detoxification and general health issues. There is a lot of acai in the Amazon. It is not a superfood – it is just food usually eaten with dried cassava balls on top or as a juice served in a plastic bag. (Marajo)
Almost everything from the Amazon can be like Viagra. ( Marajo, turu – grey tree worms -there are many in that tree. usually eaten raw – luckily they ran out of clean water and wanted to wash mine in the river, I declined)
The highest point in Brazil is Pico da Neblina, which is 2,994 m high.
Brazil is presently one of the fastest growing economies, with an annual GDP growth rate of 5%.
The Brazilian bikini wax was invented in New York in 1987 by 7 Brazilian born sisters .
Brazil produces the most oranges in the world.
The world’s widest road is the Monumental Axis in Brazil. Here, 160 cars can drive side by side!
Brazil has won the World Cup 5 times (more than any other country!) They feel shame from the last World Cup and don’t really want to talk about it.
Every city in Brazil has at least one soccer stadium. In 1967, a 48-hour ceasefire was declared in Nigeria so that Federal and Rebel troops could watch the Brazilian soccer legend Pele play on a visit to the war-torn nation. (Soare, indoor soccer)
Coca-Cola in Brazil sponsors a Pele museum on wheels that travels across the country.
Brazil has never lost a game when Pele and Garrincha played together. Kaka paid for his brother’s education at the best college in São Paulo before Rodrigo himself became a football player.
Kaka was twice voted as Brazil’s sexiest footballer. In 2005, a Nike ad starring Ronaldinho was the first video on YouTube to break 1 million views.
Brazil has the largest stadium in the continent – the Maracana Stadium.
It is another one of those countries that knows how to blow dry curly hair straight very well. (Sao Paulo)
It has the second highest number of airports in the world.
Brazil has a drink named after Jesus.
In Brazil there is a new futbol beach volleyball where they don’t use their hands. (players in Rio at Copacabana Beach posing)
It is one of the world’s leading producers of hydroelectric power.
Brazil has the fifth highest number of visits from the pope in the world.
Brazilian women attained the right to vote in 1931.
Brazil is the 5th country to make seat belts compulsory.
Brazil literacy rate is 86.4%- the lowest in the continent.
Brazil shares a border with every country in the continent except Chile and Ecuador.
The motto of Brazil is “Order and Progress”.
Brazil has the longest beach at 7500km.( Marajo – not the longest but long and beautiful)
Brazil has the most number of species on the continent. (Marajo – vulture flying over not the longest beach)
Brazil has the highest number of AIDS victims in the world.
Brazil has the ninth highest number of billionaires in the world.
A Brazilian model is considered one of the most gorgeous women in the world.
There is no official religion any more in Brazil. There are a lot of these statues around Rio.
The Portuguese were very different colonizers than the Spanish. They immediately intermarried with the Indians and the first Brazilians are born. Brazil really is a melting pot of races, foods, religions and cultures.
The currency of Brazil has both horizontal and vertical pictures.
Brazil is the longest country in the world, spanning about 2,800 miles from north to south via land.
I loved Brazil and I’m already planning to go back next year. I can say good morning, good evening, thank you, you’re welcome, goodbye and soy milk in Portuguese so I think I’m good. (Paraty)
Travel Well, Fly Safe 
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