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.

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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.

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.

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!

Dragon in Poble Nou

In honor of the Halloween holiday, I thought I’d post this recent image I found on the way to a meeting in Poble Nou back in early September. It’s a dragon, monstrous, but not particularly terrifying, perhaps due to its color scheme and perhaps because it enjoys taking passengers. It is a creation of the artist derz, who has quite a few murals around the street art hotspots in Barcelona. I hope to be able to return to my normal postings come November, when I retake my finances, and purchase a bit more storage space from the WordPress warehouse.

Famous faces, a disgraced president, and some website love.

The artist Joel Arroyo has been decorating surfaces around my neighborhood of Gràcia (see the Frida Kahlo entry below) for nearly a year now, and just a few weeks back he painted the shutters of the “co-working” which is on the bottom floor of my building, and occupies the corner of Bruniquer and Montmany streets. The portraits are of Mandela, and two women, and appears to be a nod to activism, refugees and first nations/indigenous peoples. The other image is a bit more satirical in nature and is of ousted, disgraced Spanish president Mariano Rajoy with a clown nose, which was also found here in Gràcia, on Llibertat street. This one appeared not even a week after Rajoy lost a no-confidence vote provoked by innumerable corruption scandals and was forced to leave office by opposition parties in Congress, much to the delight of probably my entire neighborhood, which is decidedly left-leaning.

On another note, this blog was once again listed by the travel website Spotted by Locals as one of the best Barcelona blogs for 2018. Here is a link to the article.

In addition, Spotted by Locals has also developed an app, which puts their fantastic, tourist-trap free travel guides to various cities in your pocket. Here’s how to get hold of them.

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.

 

My first video, some random shots, and another impossible kiss.

I’ve been toying with the idea of trying to make videos for quite a while, and I decided that my recent phone upgrade to a Galaxy S9 was the perfect opportunity. Perfect opportunity, but far from perfect video. I’m happy with the resolution, however I don’t think the video would be watchable for people who suffer from severe motion sensitivity. So, it looks like the next investment, should I decide to continue dabble in videos, I think my next investment will be a gimbal. However, as they seem to run for, minimum, a few hundred dollars, I may wait just a bit. In any case, here is the link to the video, in case you’re interested.

As for the shots in this post, they come from a city about 10 minutes outside Barcelona, called Mollet del Vallès. It was found on the walls of a secondary school on the Rambla de Balmes, while I was on my way to one of my rent-paying gigs, working as a Cambridge English assessor, which often takes me outside the city. If you’re interested in seeing these, here is a link to the location.

The other shot comes from none other than TV Boy, and features an impossible kiss between two arch-rivals from the world of European football, Pep Guardiola (with the yellow ribbon) and Jose Mourinho. While the two have moved on from the posts where their rivalry was most heated, as managers of Barça and Real Madrd, respectively, the memory of their entertaining jabs at one another lives on.

Spring shots from 3 Chimneys

Here are a few shots from the latest visit to the 3 Chimneys park near just off Paral·lel Avenue. While the work I find is sometimes hit or miss, I like the way the park itself has evolved into a sort of street art oasis in the middle of the city. It also seems to be attracting more and more tourists with increasingly professional photography gear, though much of it is being used to make skate videos.

The other shots come from the interior of the old city centre, where new work continues to become increasingly rare. I can only hope the summer will bring some surprises.

TV Boy honors two very different Barcelona masters; and another mention!

I’d like to start this post by giving a shoutout (do people still use that term? Is there an emoji for that?) to Barcelona Segway Tours, who have recently included this blog in the rankings of the best Barcelona travel blogs in English. Be sure to check out the link here, as I am in some fantastic company!

As for today’s images, they come from an artist who makes regular appearances here, none other than TVBoy. Whether it was intentional or not, the Italian artist this time seems to prove the multiple intelligence theory posed by Howard Gardner in his 1983 book. Without getting into too much detail and the debate which accompanies any theory of intelligence and learning (read more here), the two most recent works here in Barcelona, of Antoni Gaudí and Lionel Messi, show two examples of two very distinct types of genius. According to Gardner, Messi would probably be considered a genius in the body-kinesthetic type intelligence, which governs movement and agility. On the other hand, Gaudí would probably fit into the visual-spatial intelligence type, if his masterpieces that punctuate the Catalan capital’s landscape are any indicator. That’s not to say that Messi may not be a great painter, or that Gaudí couldn’t have scored a few goals in his time, but it does show that there can be more than one definition of genius. I have yet to find mine. Have you discovered yours?