It took a few weeks living here before we began to be drawn to the prolific display of street art. Once we moved into the barrio of El Carme in old town, we were surrounded by it.
Prior to living in Spain, this art form had not been something we knew anything about or even appreciated. Like anything though, the more you learn, the more interesting it becomes.
We started taking more and more photos and then decided we wanted to learn more. Luckily we found a free street art tour. We met our guide at one of our favorite outdoor cafes and after enjoying our first café con leche of the day, off we went. In addition to the two of us, there was a mother and daughter from Germany, a couple from Ireland, a gal from Hungary and our guide who was from Brussels. A great group.
We learned a few terms and definitions about the types of graffiti and we learned about the local graffiti artists living in Valencia. A few terms we remember are:
– a muralist who is often paid to paint large murals on buildings
– a stencilist who uses spray paint and a stencil to create his/her graffiti
– what it means to “bomb” an area with multiple images
– what it means to “tag” a wall; most often illegally
We also learned about the various styles different graffiti artists employ and that there is a general code among street artists not to damage or paint over each other’s art.
Some pieces are incredibly artistic and beautiful, many make political or social statements and some are just vandalism. Check out Wikipedia’s graffiti terms. Whew there is a lot!
We will likely continue to add photos to this blog because daily we find more work that we want to capture and remember.
— Ted & Julia
Our Tapestry 