Graffiti – Chilean Street Art

This post is not about the words, but the images.  I am a fan of graffiti art.  Not the clever London based Banksy or the 80’s iconic Keith Haring.   No, I prefer the colorful art found in alleyways and on struggling bars and small businesses.  On the global graffiti scene it turns out that Chile ranks rather high in its reputation.   I learned this after my walk today in Santiago.   The web has told me that I have much to look forward to later this week in Valparaiso, which some think is at the top of the heap of street graffiti.  “Chile has historically been a center for radical propaganda painting.  As early as 1940, renowned Chilean and Mexican artists like David Alfaro Siqueiros, Fernando Marcos and Gregorio de la Fuente, were painting influential murals in Chile.  Today, Latin America is on the forefront of the street art explosion, and Chile is leading the innovation.”

I like these paintings because they are bright, complex and push my eyelids back.  Banksy and Haring produce computer icons, not art that stirs me.  Most of these photos were taken in the Bellavista neighborhood of Santiago, Chile.

For now, I will let you enjoy the images I captured on today’s walk.