Urban Art and Graffiti tour
Paint by number biker hippo in San Telmo
Biking Buenos Aires did not disappoint yet again. Each time I have taken a tour to Buenos Aires, I have biked on at least one of their tours. Most of the tour guides are expats from North and South America. The guides are always interesting people, and enthusiastic about what they do.
The weather did not cooperate at all with our plan. We arrived in a downpour, having tried to rebook for another day and being told that they ride rain or shine. Three of us plus our guides headed out in alternating drizzle and downpour to learn about graffiti and see street art in Barracas, San Telmo and La Boca. After a certain point, you are so wet that more rain does not matter!
I admit that I cannot remember everything the tour guide told us about the various artists. He teaches art, and dove into each subject with much enthusiasm and detail.
Street art adapts to its environs
3D street art honoring the homeless
The hippo on the bike mural is next to a school and so the artist modified his style to a gentler style. I like how the painting is done as if it is paint-by-number, and how the bones can be seen. The .031 on the bike frame stems from an agreement with a graffitti artist who kept tagging the mural each night: that’s his tag but incorporated into the wall to stop him from defacing it!
Art reflects the society around it
The 3D sculpture of a man is new. The artist is adding these around Buenos Aires, commenting on the homelessness in the city. Each one is numbered and signed. Our guide had heard there was a new one, so we got to see it for the first time along with him.
Graffiti lesson: #2 Pasteup
Is graffiti art?
We learned about various kinds of graffiti as well as street art. I didn’t know there were distinctive styles even though I have seen graffiti for decades. I was being snobby about it not being art. This bike tour changed my mind. I can appreciate paste up and the fancier street art. I am adjusting to the idea that tagging things is art :-) The paste up intrigues me the most. It is a way to share your opinions and your art skills all over the city!
We biked around, looking at different murals. Many of the older ones, like the hippo, are faded and the colors are less intense. New murals are much brighter. We saw murals done in black and white; realistic and very cubistic side-by-side.
Barracas: Pasaje Lanin
I had never been to Barracas before. It’s next to La Boca on the Riochuelo, and there are few tourist sites or milongas there.
We turned left out of a typically grey/brown landscape in the rain, into a brightly decorated street! Pasaje or Calle Lanin, is the home of the artist Marino Santa María. He decorated his house, and then one by one, decorated those of his neighbors. He started with paint but added in mosaics as the budget allowed. Each is different, each is splendid.
The artist was in his house, sipping mate, and waved to us out the window. I liked that the tour guides both knew him and obviously respected his privacy. I wish my entire house looked like this street!!
Huge mural!
Alfredo Segatori painted the largest mural in the world (now #2) on the wall that his house door inhabits, in Barracas on the edge of La Boca. I could not believe how huge it was! There is a portrait of his wife with a cooking knife next to their door. There are portraits of local people as part of the mural. There are scenes commemorating the dock work in Barracas and La Boca. It is just huge!
Walking street art tour
Many of the tour’s participants took a walking art tour. As soon as I can convince one of them to write a review, you will see it here!
Pasaje Lanin: the green and blue house belongs to the artist, who waved to us from his window.