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Street Art/Graffitti

Art or Garbage?

By Carl Fisher

May 17^th, 2015

T.O.

Every time I tell someone in the US where I’m from (and they’ve been there) they say how it’s like a clean version of NYC. I don’t know what part of Toronto they went to, but they must not have done much exploring (or NYC is vastly more seedy then I ever imagined). I’m not saying it’s dirty, but it’s not pristine. Just like any other large city, there are bucolic neighborhoods and then there are the dumpier parts. Actually, if you dig a little deeper and peak into some of the back alleys, you can find some pretty neat stuff even in the more posh locals.

Espana

Even Spain has a ton of graffiti. I took these ones while tramping about Barcelona and Madrid, trying to avoid the super touristy areas (although I was obliged to hit a few).

Stencil

It’s surprising how many different types of graffiti/street art there are. You can see that there are a lot made from stencils and others are pasties (images printed on paper and then pasted onto surfaces). In many places graffiti is not strictly legal, but the pasted on variety is fine.

AwEstin

Austin is a surprisingly fun place (even without SBSW going on). Here are some pics from the HOPE outdoor gallery where graffiti is actually encouraged (that’s pretty much all there is at this here).

Ich Bin EIn Berliner

Yes, these are from Berlin. The place was rife with graffiti. We stayed at the Michael Berger Hotel, which was awesome because we were there for their first anniversary party (can you say free drinks, food and music?) and this whole area of abandoned warehouses was a short walk away. Not only was there lots of wallage for the artistically inclined, there were several nightclubs (if you that was your thing). Most of the pics below were taken throughout the city, so there is no shortage.