6. Portraits of Valencia

After our previous post, our plan was to move on from Valencia to showcase street art in other parts of the world. But your support has been so strong and encouraging that we decided to take one last look at our hometown art.

This week we spotlight some of the many portraits that bring life to the city's outdoor walls.

Street art portraits are like any other form of art or portraiture. At their worst, they look like those $5 charcoal caricatures that tourists pose for on the sidewalk. At their best though, they would not look out of place framed and hanging in a portrait gallery. Here are some of our favourites from the city:

Nosomdos ("we are two") are a Valencian couple who strongly support the Palestinian cause. We make no judgements about their politics here. But we do appreciate that they are among the few in Valencia to add political bite to their street art. And, of course, we like their artistic technique, particularly the humanity they give to eyes and skin tone:

Italian street artist Carlo "Carlitops" Casimassima wasn't content to post this portrait in a single spot in the city, so you'll find it in a variety of places, and, a la Andy Warhol, in a variety of colour pallets:

 

The next set of portraits appear together as part of a larger mural painted by the Ojayo Players:

And before you say it, we have to ask "where is it written that a portrait has to be of a human?" Hey, animals are people too!

Meanwhile, Valencian t.nob prefers a more cartoonish look to his portraits:

We're not sure who painted the next one, but because it sits beside an equally skilled one signed by the very talented Pixel Pancho, there's at least a chance that  this too might be one of his:



And possibly even this one:

On the other hand, we freely admit that we haven't the slightest idea who the artist is behind this one - or for that matter, the subject:

We do our best to be honest with you and admit when we can't identify a street artists. If you can solve a mystery that we can't, please drop us a line at: two.nomads319@gmail.com

Last but not least, we leave you with this portrait of two typical Valencians:

WHAT, you say? This isn't a portrait? Clearly you've never seen a pair of Valencians on the last night of our biggest street festival, Las Fallas (The Fires)!!!

5. Dispelling Valencian Myths

Street art is often a medium through which inconvenient truths are given voice. Clearly the leader in this regard is Banksy - although he has a long way to go to catch up with Edward Snowden and Julian Assange. 

On the other hand, street art can also perpetuate mythologies. We here at STREETsmART feel it's part of our duty to counter misleading images and set the record straight.

We know, for example, that paella was invented in Valencia and although we've only lived here for a year, we're 100% certain that the following is not a core ingredient:

Luis Montolio (2014)

We also know that chicken and rabbit are core ingredients of the most traditional paella, Paella Valenciana, but we're pretty sure they don't make it into the rice this way:

(Upper part) Erica il cane (2011)

And although the locals do make giant paellas for festivals, if you try to carry them away from the wood fire this way, you'll probably singe yourself up to the elbows:

(Lower part) Escif (2011)

While we're at it, let's clear up a few non-paella myths. First off, we Valencianos love our pets, and we keep them clean the traditional way, not this way:

?Zoen (2014)

We don't have eyes in the middle of our foreheads, although we may have them in one or two other places:

Coms

And last, but most certainly not least, we Valencianos have the same-looking private parts as everyone else in the world. We don't care what anyone says:

Luis Montolio (2013)

4. A Close-up Look at CERE

Miguel Maestro Cerezo, better known as Cere, is another prolific street artist living in Valencia. Originally from Burgos, a small city near the Basque Country (Northern Spain), he moved to Alicante when he was 17 to study art, later continuing his studies in Valencia. Many years later he is still brightening up the walls of the city:



Navegando por el barrio, (Navigating the neighbourhood),

Cere (2014)

Cere began his informal training at age 15, along with other kids from school. He practiced on abandoned warehouses near his home, later painting trains and any other surface he could find. “I have good memories of those years in Burgos; experimentation with letters and characters opened my mind to a whole new world.”*

 

Today, Cere works as a graphic artist focused on Graphic Design, Illustration and Art Direction. He works on a wide range of creative stuff, for himself and commercial interests.

 

A Cuchillo, (A Stab),

Cere in collaboration with Lolo (2013)

Fortunately, he chose to settle in a city that embraces street art. “If you paint with respect, ordinary people will love what you do because it gives them culture for free, in the streets.”*

Evolving Styles

Over the years Cere’s style has varied considerably and he says the changes reflect how he feels at any given time. When he was in a rebellious mood, he painted wolves. “It was a fun way of claiming the streets as ours.”*

 

Cere (2009)

Cere (2009)

Then he focused on the black pudding of his home town, the “Morcillas de Burgos”. With this series he marked a cultural shift towards his roots. He wanted to highlight the remoteness and superficiality of the street-art scene at the time and to condemn the globalization of society.

 

Cere (2011)



Cere (2012)

La Esquina del Amor, (The Corner of Love),

Cere 2012

More recently, Cere seems to be strengthening his claim to the neighbourhood as a place for art instead of up-scale development. He's often seen collaborating on the streets with other Valencia-based artists, particularly Laguna and Lolo Fonico.

 

Out of My Area,

Cere (2014)

Another World,

Cere (2014)

Cere in collaboration with Laguna (2014)

La Pareja Perfecta, (The Perfect Couple),

Cere in collaboration with Lolo (2014)

 *Quotes by Cere via (Global Street Art) 2012.

 

 

3. A Close-up Look at DEIH

Without a doubt, our favourite Valencia street artist is DEIH. He delivers everything we look for in art: colour, imagination and technical expertise - all wrapped up in a futuristic science-fiction/cyberpunk/steampunk package.

DEIH is no Johnny-come-lately to the world of street art. Born in Valencia, he's  been transforming the cityscape for two decades+  as well as illustrating comics and animating videos. 

In 2012, DEIH created his "Insider" series, an attempt to work through his inner feelings by running them through a science-fiction matrix. He's still working on it today - both the series and the feelings. Though we may not be getting any closer to figuring out what makes DEIH tick, we do appreciate that his art is getting better and better by the day (or is that DEIH?)

We've already showcased some of his works in our first two posts, take a look back if you haven't seen them. Here are a few more of our favourites:



The Insider No.7
DEIH

(2012)



The Visitor

DEIH

(2014)

Cosmos

DEIH

(2014)

Cosmos Revealing Himself 

DEIH

(2013)

 DEIH

  (2013) 

DEIH

(2013)

DEIH

(2012)

 

DEIH

(2012)

I Saw a Whole Hole

DEIH

(2014)

1. And So it Begins.....(Part I)

Welcome to STREETsmArt: The People's Art. 

STREETsmART is about street art. If you don't know what street art is, you might want to have your pulse checked - you could be dead! 

Street art is quite simply the fastest-growing art movement in the history of the world. It's everywhere. Every continent. Every country. Every city. From Moscow to Mecca. Toronto to Tehran. Johannesburg to Jerusalem. Buenos Aires to Bombay. Paris to Punta del Este.

Street art truly is the people's art. You don't have to walk into a fancy building, pay a hefty fee, or show up during restricted hours to see it. It's right there outdoors, 24-hours a day and it's free for the looking. You don't have to stand behind a line on the floor or check your camera at the door. You can shuffle up as close as you want and take as many pictures as you'd like - flash on or flash off.

Keep it Rotating

DEIH

(2014)

As a street art fan, you won't get telemarketing calls at suppertime hounding you to renew your membership or donate to a fundraising campaign. And best of all, you'll never hear anyone utter Banksy's ironic words, "Exit Through the Gift Shop".

Now don't get us wrong. We like art galleries. They acquire, restore, curate and display great national and international cultural treasures. We'd just like to see the world of art made more democratic and accessible -- and not just for three hours on a Thursday evening. That's why we created this blog - to share with you some of the great street art we've seen around the world. And to promote a greater awareness of how street art is helping rejuvenate our cityscapes and restoring pride in our neighbourhoods.

STREETsmART (http://streetsmart319.blogspot.com) is brought to you by the same folks who created WOWchitecture: Architecture Outside the Box (http://WOWchitecture.blogspot.com), now viewed in 92 countries. We promise you here what we promised you there: to showcase the bold and the colourful, the wild and the weird, the edgy and the "off the wall" (even though it's more than likely on a wall!)

All we ask in return is that if you like what you see, please pass the word (and our web address!) on to your friends and fellow street art lovers. And if you'd like to leave a comment at the end of a post, we'd love to hear from you.

Now, let's stop with the gab and get on with the art. Since we live in Valencia, Spain we're going to focus our first few posts on some of our favourite local street artworks and the creative artists behind them. Then it's on to the rest of the world!

Multi-talented DEIH is a street artist, illustrator and animator. His work marries together science fiction images with comic book superheroes:

El Dorado
DEIH
(2013)

tiboo's greatest claim to fame is an enormously wide piece commissioned by the Valencia Botanical Garden. Hopefully, we're adding to that fame by using a detail from it in our masthead. When he's painting for his own pleasure, tiboo's style can be very different:

tiboo

(2012)

Cere, which is the Spanish short form for "cherry", is the name used by Miguel Maestro Cerezo. He paints in a variety of styles and though now living in Valencia, he appears to have an unusual fixation on his hometown (Burgos) black pudding:

Cere
(2012)

We only know a couple of things about Fiz. First, he likes to paint skeletons. And second, he's very good at it:

Fiz
(2011)

Julieta has a unique style that is undoubtedly, the most colourful, cheerful and playful in the city. Her work invariably focuses on a young cartoon-like Japanese girl, surrounded by Asian iconography such as dragons, deer, peacocks, and flowers:

Julieta

Felipe (his real name) Pantone (not his real name) was born in Buenos Aires, but today calls Valencia home. His work has a colourful kinetic quality to it:


Felipe Pantone

(2013)

For one so young, Merypinta (real name Maria Barrachina Fuentevilla) has a genuine feel for the 1960s.We can vouch for that.We lived through the sixties, road in VW vans in the sixties, and saw psychedelic colours in the sixties:

Merypinta

(2013)

Normally we're not huge fans of "tagging" or lettering. But we like the way this international effort created by Siko (France) Exas (Portugal) and Wreck (?) has come together with clean, colourful lettering and a lion's head that makes it ROOOAAAR!

Siko Exas Wreck

Italian-born, Valencia educated, Pixel Poncho usually paints robots. That makes this portrait either a rarity, or someone painted over PP's original image but left his signature there. Either way,it's a stunningly precise artwork that shows a skilled hand on the paint brush/spray/roller.

Pixel Pancho

Another successful collaboration blends together the talents of Argentinian born, now Valencia resident, Hyuro, with those of Valencia born Escif. The two share some common traits: they're political - something depressingly rare in Valencia street art; they're active globally; they take a minimalist approach that emphasizes the message over the artwork; and they like to paint in shades of charcoal.

El Dorado

Escif and Hyuro

(2013)

That's it for this post, and we've barely touched the surface. In our next post we'll share more of our Valencia favourites.