Street Art is definitely my favourite type of art. I would rather walk the streets of a city and drink in the culture and passion of Street art than walk around a musty museum or modern art exhibition. There is just something so raw about art on the street, every city and country has a story to tell and street art that defines them.
Portugal is no exception. Walking through Lisbon, Porto, Lagos, Nazare there is no shortage of amazing work. Some commissioned art, some more leaning to graffiti, all great in their own way.
Lisbon has free walking tours which also delves into the street art that is around the town taking you to the most well recognised sites in the city. Lisbon government have commissioned many walls and sections of the city as blank canvas for any aspiring artists to show their work.
One of the most well known street art compilations in Lisbon dedicated to Fado music
With the understanding among artists that work can be covered with another artists work it is an ever evolving mix of art, a piece that is there one day might not be the next or it may be slightly different. That being said there are definitely certain works which are understood to be no go zones and are still in their original condition from when they were first painted.
A section in the Lisbon suburb Alfama. This is one artists area who is constantly changing his own work and adding to it.
There are also tags and reoccurring artwork all over cities such as Porto where street art is as popular as tile work. There were a couple that I found: armchairs with different facial expressions but my favourite in Porto was no doubt the squirrel/chipmunks all over town. They were usually hidden in out of the way areas but always put a smile on my face when I found one. It is art like this that for me makes a city shine and give it so much more personality.
Yes it is graffiti but in areas like this where it isn’t on a persons home or historical area just gives an ordinary suburb a bit more charm. Below are some of my favourite pieces of art around Porto.
A reoccurring Chipmunk that is around the Porto suburbs
Rainbow woman tucked away around the corner of a shopping centre.
