After a long pause…

As I had expected, after taking on a full-time position, along with some administrative duties, at one of the schools where I had only worked a few hours a week, has turned my old routines upside-down. Add to that a 2-week trip to New York in September (which will be the topic of my next post) The month of October was on fraught with adjustment as I juggled old responsibilities and new, into a new sort of lifestyle. This particular responsibility was one of the balls that got dropped.

It looks like I’m beginning to get my bearings, and I’m currently in a two-day lull before it comes time to start organizing final exams before the winter break. So I’ve decided to take advantage on this chilly Sunday–also the day of Spain’s 4th general election in 4 years–to post a bit of what I captured before I got really busy at the beginning of September.

Most of these shots come from my normal hunting grounds, the Tres Xemeneies Park neat Parallel, and the “free walls” near Poble Nou.

One notable exception is the pasteup work of a previously featured artist, Postman art, a portrait of Karl Lagerfeld, found in the Raval.

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July scribblings, pasteups, and a crazy rabbit

August this year turned out to be a lot busier than the last, work-wise, which means I wasn’t able to make my annual trip to the Sants Festival, which takes place just after the one here in Gràcia.

However, I did have some great shots from an outing in July, where I found, among other things, a TVBOY pasteup of the Barça star Coutinho, and a crazy stoned version of the Trix Rabbit.

Festa Major de Gràcia 2019

Summer 2019 has turned out to be quite a bit busier than I had expected, having taken on a few extra hours at work. As a result, I haven’t been able to get out and about as much as I normally do in summer.

There would be no excuse, however, for me to miss out on the annual Fest Major de Gràcia, as I am pretty much surrounded by it for its 7-day run.

As always, all of my shots are taken early in the day, before the arrivals of the bigger crowds that swarm the neighbourhood every night. Even so, the most intricately-decorated streets had not only converted into one-way passages, but there were also staff at the entrance to control the number of people entering. This meant that even at 11 in the morning there was a block-long line of people waiting to get into some of the streets. That said, the line moved fast, and once inside, it wasn’t nearly as crowded as it had been in past years, making it much easier to move, and to snap a few photos free of people.

The themes this year varied, from Harry Potter, to a tribute to miners, to Halloween, to the library after closing, to a 50s-style American diner.

There were a few incidents however, include a pair of sexual assaults of women on their way home late at night, and a suspicious fire, which destroyed most of a street which had been decorated with an ocean theme. Unfortunate incidents seem to be a side effect of a festival, and indeed a city, which has become a victim of its own success.

As every year, the Gràcia festival is followed by the slightly smaller festival of the Sants neighbourhood. I will try to get a few pictures before it wraps up.

Pact with me… TV Boy strikes again!

I’ll end this month with another spectacular work from TV BOY, who has once again made headlines in the local and Spanish press with his artistic take on the political gridlock which has once again paralyzed the central Spanish government. This time, it’s between Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez and Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias. Sanchez won the most votes in the election and the most seats in the Parliament, however he falls short of a majority to be named president. He would need the support of left-wing Podemos and its leader Pablo Iglesias. Iglesias’ support doesn’t come without a price, and so far it’s a price that Sanchez isn’t willing to pay. Sanchez has failed in two rounds of voting and has a final chance in September before a repeat in elections. Most polls point to important gains for Sanchez and the socialists, but a weary and bitter electorate could prove to be unpredictable. An especially dangerous situation with the ultra-right wing populist VOX party waiting to pounce. Only time will tell what happens, but I’m sure TV BOY will have something to say, whatever the result.

This work was a pasted just off the Plaça Sant Jaume, where both the Barcelona City Hall and the Catalan National Government Building are located, so it got plenty of attention.

The Postman in Barcelona

Just on the heels of my previous post, imagine my surprise when scrolling through my Instagram feed when I saw that the Postman had made a visit to Barcelona. The artist has placed (according to response to my comment) around 30 pieces around the Raval and Born neighborhoods. Because of the heat, and limited time, I was only able to find the ones below, but I’m hoping the others last long enough until my next trip down.

Meme on the wall

One of my favorite memes from the last 10 years was one called Bad Luck Brian, which was a photo from someone’s awkward teen years accompanied by text detailing some type of instance of incredible misfortune. While it’s long past its peak, it still makes me smile (perhaps because of my name). So imagine my surprise when walking the dog one night here in my neighborhood and seeing a shutter painted with a portrait of the gawky, redhead.

Interestingly enough, I uploaded the image onto reddit, and received a message from the real bad luck Brian, asking for the name of the artist. Unfortunately, there is no signature on the painting, so I had to leave the real “Brian” disappointed.

 

Late winter vs early spring

Here you’ll find some shots from two of the more central, and perhaps easy to find spots for urban art in Barcelona, the Parc de les Tres Xemeneies near avinguda Paral.lel, which is on the border between the ever-gritty (but overpriced) Raval and the recently-hip Poble Sec neighborhoods; and the Jardins de Walter Benjamin, which are just near the bottom of Montjuic, at the beginning of the road which leads to the Port and later the airport.

These are both part of the legal painting walls initiative, so artists have more time to paint, can do so in broad daylight, and have relatively little to worry about in the way of law enforcement interference. That said, the Parc de les Tres Xemeneies is frequently used for neighborhood events and is also a skate park, so it can also sometimes be difficult to work in peace, if that’s what’s desired.

There are also shots from the Arnau Gallery public art project which is on Paral.lel, and is always worth checking out when in the area.

There are various artists and styles in this batch of images, among my favorites are the tribute to the late hip hop star Craig Mack, and Peter Griffin from the Family Guy.

La Modelo: The transition from prison to cultural center

La Modelo was a prison located in the central Eixample neighborhood of Barcelona, and was home to many political prisoners during the Franco dictatorship, and also the site of many executions, among them the killing of anarchist Salvador Puig Antich in 1974.

I used to live just across the street and it was always an imposing structure, though usually strangely quiet, except for the occasional karaoke nights that would echo out from over the walls, which occupied an entire city block.

The prison shut down definitively in 2017, after 113 years in operation. It is now an open space, and is used for tours, civic events, and most notably its walls now serve as canvases for urban art. Below you’ll find a selection from a recent trip I made to the area, which is located here.

 

Nau Bostik: a warehouse of art and culture

I had heard and seen photos around the net of some mural work at the Nau Bostik, a cultural center which is a converted factory at the edge of the Poble Nou area, the old industrial center of Barcelona. Due to time constraints, I hadn’t been able to make it until just before Christmas. I definitely recommend the trip, as they regularly have art markets and concerts along with other special events. Below you’ll find some of the art I encountered that day, including a character from Game of Thrones by well-known Barcelona artist Axe Colours.

 

Better late than never… An extra entry and resolution

I have promised myself numerous times, and have even stated in an interview, that I would post twice a month, no more, no less. That said, I have decided that this January 2019, I will make an exception and post three times. One of the reasons for this is that I have quite an archive of worthy images that is backing up in my cloud storage, impatiently waiting like planes on a runway, to take off into the blogosphere. So, without further ado, here are some images that come from a session in early November, a mix of locations including the Poblenou neighborhood and the more central Paral·lel area. The images speak for themselves, and I’ll save lengthy commentary for the following posts, which will come from this December/January’s visit to New York City. Happy New Year!