Raw art, art of the streets, art created in the dark, art for all… graffiti art has always held a special place in my heart, and some of my favorite artists, including Basquiat and Keith Haring, rose to fame through their graffiti work. The first time I visited Barcelona, about 15 years ago, I stumbled upon a huge Basquiat exhibit at a random gallery and was awed to see so much of his work in person. This visit, I saw numerous art brut artists in museums, including an entire Banksy museum (definitely have mixed feelings about that one. Very well done, but they exist as copies of the originals and are not ‘approved’, then other Banksy’s with authentication from ‘Pest Control’ (look this up, very cool way to stay anonymous and have your work authenticated and who doesn’t love a group called pest control???) MOCA Contemporary art museum with Basquiat, Haring, Warhol, Banksy and many others. But the real winner of this trip, for me, was wandering the streets of Barcelona where every roll-up door (that covers most shops when they’re closed) becomes a possible canvas. The streets came alive with graffiti on every surface. That said, there were also some really depressing things, like political slogans and tags sprayed on ancient statues and beautiful marble, but those were the exceptions. We loved taking night walks and delighting in the massive art that surrounded us. And as we walked, we stumbled onto all kinds of different adventures: we danced on the steps of the Inquisition, followed the sound of music to a giant youth street party, sat by fountains in the dark, listened to street busquers everywhere. I will hold the memories of hunting for graffiti in this beautiful city close.
