Madrid celebrates one of the most important cultural weeks for the street art culture along the end of February. ARCO or Urvanity are two notorious examples of contemporary art fairs in the Spanish capital.
Are we familiar enough with its community? Let’s pay attention to relevant insider details that we could find in the industry.
- Individuals & organizations related to the movement,
- The status of Spanish street art culture,
- Reasoning and other key aspects.
Who does belong to the street art culture?
The street art culture has rapidly spread all around the world, observing how public and private institutions invest their money in the business.
Whether legally curated or created without permission, the interest from the general audience, artists from different backgrounds and collectors is increasing.
These are the three main groups that we could classify in the 2020 trends:
Artists themselves
The past 10/15 years settled a new artistic trend known as urban art. Post-graffiti creations are not only available in indoor venues, but also (and most predominantly) in the streets.
Different profiles and careers could be observed within the street art culture:
- Muralists painting huge walls,
- Graphic designers creating paste-ups & stickers,
- Urban developers using recycled materials.
Have you ever heard of famous Spanish artists such as Okudart, Pichiavo, Belin or El niño de las pinturas?
Gallerists & private collectors contributing to spread the street art culture
It’s true that owning original art creations, in general terms, might be an exclusive hobbie, but the street art culture brought the possibility to purchase cheaper artworks.
The range goes from 20€ to amounts as high as XX.000€. There are some galleries who focus on emergent artists creating limited edition prints (the cheapest ones), and other collectors who create foundations contributing to a social cause.
These are some street art galleries in Madrid that you should check:
- Swinton & Grant (Calle de Miguel Servet, 21)
- Delimbo (Calle del Dr. Fourquet, 30)
- La Causa Galería (Calle Jesús del Valle, 2)
General audience (i.e travellers, photographers…)
If we had to relate the street art culture with other global trends, that would be travelling and photography.
Young generations travel more than those who are now 60 years old, and every time you walk around the avenues of any European capital city you’ll find an urban art wall.
It’s those same ones, who take pictures everywhere they go, and upload their content to social media channels like Instagram or Facebook.
Why are graffiti writers interested (or not) in the street art culture?
Artists who grew up with the graffiti culture have different ideas about the street art culture. Some of them develop their professional careers linked to it, but others show reluctance to jumping in.
Let’s start mentioning some facts that we have heard within the local community scene.
Joining forces to grow up stronger
Despite some people may think that graffiti should never sell its soul to commercialism, there exist great benefits about a collaboration between the two of them.
- The term ‘street art’ sounds more professional than ‘graffiti‘ for public institutions, governing bodies and cultural projects.
- The integration of graffiti styles and lettering into street art walls create a beautiful combination.
- Bigger sales for artists who moved from illegal graffiti ‘bombing’ to legal urban art.
Making a difference. Graffiti is not street art!
Part of the old-school community does still believe in a pure graffiti culture, where writers are not influenced by big brands/corporations, and the sense of illegality flows in artists’ veins.
What would happen if whole cars, throw-ups in metal shutters or rolled-up names would disappear? There is still an underground & hidden community which shares codes, techniques and philosophical views.
What’s the 2020 street art culture in Spain like?
We have observed as this year might be observed as the consolidation step for Spanish street art related fairs, festivals and projects. They are all working hard towards a global recognition within the contemporary art industry.
Urban art festivals organized along the territory
- Art Aero Rap (La Bañeza, León) is an urban art event, where muralism, street art, graffiti and the hiphop/urban arts meet in all form of expressions.
- Parees fest (Oviedo) is a cultural, social, and artistic event bringing artists and citizens together to offer the city a new look through its walls.
- Meeting of Styles (Madrid) enables intercultural cross-boarder-cooperation. It is an example how a better world of tomorrow may be possible. An international network of graffiti artists and aficionados that began in 1997.
Contemporary art fairs which approach art to an open public
- SWAB (Barcelona) is an international art fair that brings together galleries, artists, curators and collectors from all around the world to showcase and discuss the latest trends in the international emerging scene.
- Art Marbella (Málaga) is the first major modern & contemporary art fair in the Costa del Sol, Spain. A premiere stop in the international cultural calendar.
- Urvanity Art or Art Madrid are two other important stops in the Spanish capital city.
Cooltourspain’s opinion about the street art culture
We believe that there are amazing projects which help to spread the love for the street art culture.
What directly relates to us, we create street art tours and graffiti workshops for groups of students and MICE & DMC team buildings in Madrid.
Cooltourspain team members continuously work towards the development of the industry in the country.
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