My dear Steemians!
Today I will continue the story on Steet art in Barcelona!
To learn more about the history of Street Art, I invite you to click on these links:
🌈 Once upon a time, the history of Street Art ... #1
🌈 Once upon a time, the history of Street Art in Barcelona ... # 2
As you know I live in Barcelona for almost a year, I love art in general but one of my favorites is Street art. That's why I went on a guided tour organized by "free graffiti Tour Barcelona". I thank our guide "Heloïse" to have transmitted all this knowledge, we had a great time!
I will share with you my Steemians friends, what I learned during this visit!
1- Street Art in Barcelona Today
I love the street art style in Barcelona because it has the particularity of being colorfull, very happy, innocent fantasy and sometimes naive.
Many local artists, but also international artists who are passing through Barcelona come to graff in the district of Raval.
The district of Raval, in pink on the map, is located to the left of Las Ramblas in the old city of Barcelona. Today it's a cosmopolitan district, and rather popular with communities and very diverse geographical origins. But this neighborhood has a very interesting history!
In the 1st century BC, Barcelona was surrounded by walls. In the 13th century, the Raval was covered with farmland, where peasants worked hard to feed the population inside the walls. The Raval was a district reserved for the marginalized, a bad zone where the sailors came to see the prostitutes ...
In the 19th century, it is the Industrial Revolution and the Raval will undergo a first mutation. Industries are growing and the evolution of machinery is reducing jobs in the fields and small farms are disappearing. The Raval will become a workers' city where living conditions are unhealthy.
Late 19th century is the appearance of unionism. The workers demand a reduction in working hours, an increase in wages and better working conditions. However the government does not react, which will create a climate where extremist and anarchist ideologies are reinforced.
2- The unmissable works in the Raval
Each artist has his own style that can be found elsewhere in the city or in the world.
If you come to visit the Raval you cannot miss some works that I will present you here.
🎨 The Fresco "Agora Juan Andrés Bunitez" Collective Carrer Aurora
This mural has a story that I discovered during this visit. Indeed, in 2013, while Juan Andrés Benítez was walking his dog in this street, a fight breaks out. The 'Mossos' (police of Catalonia) arrived and tried to stop him, he resisted and more 'Mossos' arrived. Juan Andrès fell to the ground and was lynched. He will die after a cardiac arrest a few hours later. The police tried to hide the case, but images taken with mobile phones circulated on the internet.
This story traumatized the inhabitants of this neighborhood. A group of artists wanted to pay homage to this young man with this magnificent fresco that tells his story. I find it as beautiful as disturbing. I let you judge for yourself.
🎨 Tributo to Joan Miró of Sixe Paredes
This street art is a commission from the city as part of an artistic project that aimed to pay homage to great figures of Barcelona.
this project aimed to reproduce a work inspired by the imaginary world of Joan Miro.
Sixe Paredes responded to this project by mixing Miro's style (rounded shapes, geometric shapes, overlays ...) with his visually recognizable personal universe (palettes of various colors, and geometric shapes) .This work is incredible and its situation is perfect !
🎨 El Gat by Fernando Botero
Fernando Botero is a Colombian artist known for his characters with rounded and voluptuous shapes. El Gat is also an order city and weighs 2 tons and 200 kg.
The mayor wanted to make efforts to make the Raval district more attractive, especially since 1992 when the Olympic Games were held in Barcelona. They wanted to improve the image of the neighborhood and attract tourists, but it does not only have advantages. Indeed, by building all these new infrastructures (hotels, museums, ...) the district becomes more beautiful and more attractive, but the rents increase and the inhabitants of the Raval can not live any more!
This is the end of this third article in the Steet Art series. In the next article I will present other essential works of Barcelona and I will tell you their story!
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For more information on the free graffiti Tour Barcelona, click here:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/Free-Graffiti-Tour-Barcelona-625920087765755/
Website: www.freegraffiti.com
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Much love from Barcelona ❤