It was almost exactly a year ago that I saw this mural in my street. I was going to make a post about it, but since I was literally just about to fly to Germany, I forgot. Never mind! After all, I was certain I would get to find tons of exciting murals in Berlin too, right? (That's right! To see them you can check out my Walls of Berlin series.)
But now I just noticed: this mural is still up, although it is not even a mural, strictly speaking. The surface the imagery has been created on, is a number of plywood (or possibly OCB) sheets to cover up what I assume to be an empty lot. Or maybe the access to one of the buildings, like the pizzeria next door, which carved out a fancy dining venue for itself, out of the crumbling buildings. You're welcome to see for yourself that I am not exaggerating: the location is Rafael Rebollar between Gregorio Gelati and Ignacio Esteva in my neighborhood San Miguel Chapultepec.
Gentrification Galore
Expensive pizza between aesthetically appealing ruins? If that doesn't sound like gentrification, I don't know what would. Neo-retro sneakers maybe? Or perhaps some hi-tech music machine sporting the look of a ghetto blaster from the 80's? Or how about just simply skateboarding? Something that never dies, just fades away, like the one dude's ripped jeans.
And to have all of this on a wall of mixed media, made up partially of a photo-collage, as well as obviously spray paint, using stenciling, and colorful spheres... I mean, I could not have done a better job stereotyping the most recent addition to our neighborhood's demographic makeup. - I know, I am not being too gentle on these new arrivals, though I probably should touch my own nose here, since I am in fact one of them myself, with the exception that I came a decade earlier, back when prices were still normal.
Just in case anyone had any doubts, the artist of this work clearly left a few undeniable indicators, that this piece is in fact considered street-art (as well as street photography!) and you are invited to check out AlexBarriosImages and AlexFilm14Studio to see more of his art.
This post, as my mural ones usually all are, is my entry to this week's CCC's Street Art Contest, where you can find lots of interesting examples street art from around the world. If you want to see more of the ones I have found in Mexico, please visit my Mexican Murals collection.