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Position: ATLANTIC SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
Portugal and Spain have lively street art scenes. There is hardly a public space, or public vehicle, that’s not tagged with slashes of black spray paint. Some are covered in the flowing, garishly coloured letters of a competent graphic artist, others with full-on murals.
I’m not a fan of tagging. It seems lazy, even in its furtiveness. I’m also not much of a fan of big, bold lettering – unless it’s done well or carries a message. This despite a grudging appreciation for the ballsiness of creating any large piece of illegal art. I prefer images that tell stories, however comical. In part because I like demonstrations of figurative art on any canvas, and in part because I’m envious and wish I had the ability to do the same.
Of all the places we stopped along the coast, Porto and Lisbon had the most interesting street art, offsetting the irritating tagging so common everywhere else. That said, I found some interesting work in Lagos in support of an exhibition taking place there.
Graffiti is so prevalent and often so large in Portugal it seems the civic authorities have either embraced it or don’t have the means to erase it, which leads to a kind of embrace. By example, suburban commuter trains are covered end-to-end in swathes of paint, but the windows are generally clear. This suggests that the Portuguese rather like their otherwise dull trains looking hip, so long as their view isn’t obstructed.
There’s an anarchic element of graffiti that’s discomforting. After all it is vandalism, right? Which, no doubt, is why New York City took on leagues of feral graffitists in the 1990s. Subway trains in New York, just like in Portugal, are a big, mobile canvas primed for every vandal with a can of spray paint. Some of those vandals were truly artists, while others were giftless dipsticks. But they were all representative of a challenge to authority that could not stand (to paraphrase The Dude).
Back in the 1990s, New York’s subway cars were wiped clean every night, destroying the work of the graffitists and robbing them of any sense of accomplishment. Eventually they moved on and New York morphed into the exclusive, puckered, and expensive hipster paradise it is today.
While you may not agree with the aesthetic, I believe there’s something valuable in enabling a little social anarchy. Not the kind that sets aside areas where graffitists can practice. The ‘Hey! Paint here dude! It’s cool with your city!’ locales that are becoming popular. That’s too contrived. I’m thinking more the, ‘Hey! You know we have you on CCTV, but we’re not going to dispatch officers until we see what you come up with.’ kind of approach. The implication being, if it sucks then the man will wipe it clean, if it’s good then the man will abide (to quote The Dude). Sure, it’s subjective. It’s art. Get over it! The latter approach, on balance, means kids may find a creative outlet, while true artists may find their voice. The alternative is stifling and often destructive.
Progress in art isn’t easy, but it is inevitable. And while graffiti still commands a task force in New York, the rights of the graffitist and their art are finding some protections under the law. There is some truly great street art in Portugal and Spain, while anarchy is seemingly held at arm’s length. Here are some examples we ran across:
