Quick shots from Poblenou, May 2018

May has been an exciting and busy time for the last couple of years, as it coincides with some of the busy exam seasons at the various schools where I work, as well as my annual trip back to the US for family reunion, and some days in New York City, which is where I am writing from now.

The photos from my trip here will be spread over a few posts, as there are various places I have visited and plan to visit before I head back across the ocean.

In the meantime, here are some photos from my latest trip to the art areas in Poblenou, with some interesting large-scale portraits, similar to the entry from 30 March, as well as some cartoon characters, and some wide-angle shots. I have to say, I’m really happy with the quality of photos from the new galaxy phone, though I have limited experience with other phones such as the Iphone and Pixel.

 

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Special honor at year’s end and some bits and pieces

While the political chaos swirls around me, and daily life gets into the mix, it’s easy to forget that the show most certainly does go one. And street art is no exception.

I was reminded of this just a few days ago when I received, via twitter, the news that Spotted by locals, a website and app that serves as a guide to more than 65 cities worldwide, had chosen this blog to be on their list of the best of Barcelona. Be sure to take a look at the list here, as I’m in some excellent company.

As for the photos in this post, they range pretty much from the middle of July to just last week, and are from various locations, hence the title of this post. Many of them are from the murs lliures project in Poblenou, and have probably been replaced a few times over. Others are small shots from here in Gràcia, or the old city center. I have a small hunting expedition planned for the bank holiday coming up this week, so expect more in the next week or two!

Pre-spring around Poblenou

These are some shots from around the Poblenou neighbourhood, taken around the first week of March. The majority come from the “Free Walls” project, but there are also a few from around the Glories area, and an abandoned building site which had a hole in its fence.

Some interesting details worth noting are the now-customary anti-Trump art, along with a small mural with legs, in front of which you can see a shopping cart. That shopping cart is not abandoned, and is actually used by the African migrants who use them to wander the city gathering scrap metal, and who’ve made a home in a nearby encampment. These encampments are very similar to the ones built up by the Roma people, who also make their living on scrap metal and recycling, though some Roma are fortunate enough to have large vans to transport their cargo.

As the warmer weather approaches, I expect to see more turnover of the work on the free walls, so I’ll post as often as possible. The free walls can be found here. Some of the other works can be seen here (approximately), near Poblenou Park.

Celebrity sightings in the Ciutat Comtal

The majority of the shots in this post (including the first-ever shot of myself) are the work of the urban pop artist TVBOY. They are part of a series of famous artists from the past with touches of the present, including a Frida Kahlo Iphone selfie–the shot in which I couldn’t resist joining the famous Mexican artist for a rare narcissistic arm’s length self-portrait. The shot of Serge Gainsbourg comes from the artist Valerie Maho, and the great Muhammad Ali in stencil was created by RAF Urban. The other image (from sm172) which I’ve included is a darker reflection on our pop-selfie culture and is a statement on the voyeuristic bystander syndrome which seems to be a side effect of all of us being able to record and photograph all that we see, while forgetting to experience it, or get involved when necessary.

Paral·lel, celebrity tributes in Raval, and a gritty garden

Today’s shots come from the free walls at Tres Xemeneies, near Avinguda Paral·lel, some random wanderings through the neighbouring Raval, and a new location (at least for me): the Jardins de Walter Benjamin, which are just near the Port, and mark the last frontier before the city gives way to Montjuic Park. As suggested in the title, the “gardens” themselves are nothing to marvel at, but the walls, which separate them from the playground of a local school, are the main attraction.

The Raval was full of tributes to famous faces, among them Debbie Harry, Kafka, Dennis Rodman, the late Prince, Jesus Christ (by artist sm172), and Football Club Barcelona’s favourite tax-dodging wunderkind, Neymar Jr.

As my geo-tagging feature on my camera app has become a bit unpredictable with the latest android update, my locations aren’t quite a precise as before. That said, a good wander round the Raval/Poble Sec area does a body good!

 

Leaping into spring

Just a few hundred metres from my favorite cathedral in Barcelona, the Santa Maria del Mar, and behind the Fossar de les Moreres there’s a small alley that can be used as a shortcut to Barceloneta and the sea. There’s little of great interest, other than some of splotchy tags that can be found in any small Barcelona alleyway, except this little piece, which I think comes from sm172. I think she captures perfectly the feeling we have here in Barcelona when the seasons stop hesitating, and spring finally decides that it’s here to stay.

Among the stars; Featured on another website

I received an email a week or two back asking if I would like to have this blog featured on an expat website called Internations. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity, and a questionnaire and croppeed photo later, I found myself with my own feature page, which you can find here. I decided to use this image from artist sm172 as a mini-celebration not only because of blissful, starry background, but also because I think it’s important to credit the artists who make Barcelona more unconventionally spectacular. I simply take the pictures.