When you blink your eyes...

We took the Subte again walked to a corner in Palermo Soho to wait for a graffiti tour. The guide was 15 minutes late. I was about ready to leave but glad we didn’t. The tour was worth every peso. The tour guide Anna said she was self taught in English and did quite well. She was very much into the Buenos Aires Graffiti scene, also a journalist as well.

Several unique factors about Buenos Aires street we saw separated it from what I was used to in the US and Europe. Since it was started around the economic collapse in 2001 only rich people could afford spray paint so much of it was done with latex paint with free hand or stencil. Also, its generally not illegal, its done more as commissioned murals or walls that are open to artists. The community around generally likes and accepts the pieces. This helps the pieces last longer, many below are over 5-6 years old. Pieces by respected artists are usually not painted over by other artists. Often times they paint with brushes at the end of long sticks. In addition the artists are not attempting to be unknown, they freely sign their real names, email addresses and phone numbers so they can be contacted. This allows people to find out more of the background behind the pieces.

The piece above was actually done by 2 different artists, each painting one fighting character on the side of a bus station.


We even had the chance to go inside a studio where 3 artists work, one shy one who didn't speak english was there. It was also shared by an artist named Jaz the tour guide kept talking about and possibly a quarter of the pieces we saw were by him. She mentioned he also paints with asphalt, mixing it with the paints to get certain affects he wants to achieve.








For more street art photos go here.