June 2018, walking through the Lavapiés neighborhood in Madrid, we decided to observe the Tabacalera wall. We find ourselves looking at murals from the last Tabacalera Walls’ Street Art Encounter, which took place in 2014. These murals change, through urban art, the dull colors of a city of concrete into lively colors that remind us of those found in nature.
Does Graffiti Precedes Urban Art, and Is It Inspired on Graffiti?
Graffiti appears in the New York Neighborhoods during the 60s as a protest against the establishment, “taking over” the city with its signatures, “tagging” urban areas with their names, and using public spaces as loudspeakers for their, usually unconventional, concerns. The appropriation of supports with the goal of self-promoting is still a transgression against coexistence rules.
Street Art Expression in the Streets
It’s a universal right for every person to be able to express themselves. Plastic experimentation is a powerful tool for this freedom of expression. And, in my opinion, it’s fundamental that it’s done respecting certain coexistence rules. Street art has the transgressive component of graffiti because it usually contains an outcry that tries to awake something in society and that, by being exhibited on the streets, it can be accessed by everyone. But it does this in a respectful way, since it’s usually an intervention that has been agreed to beforehand. The beauty of urban art resides in the idea of giving new life to supports like city walls, as someone who works over a used canvas to make a new painting.
Street Art to Me
I would love to get invited to intervene a public space! Meanwhile, my proposal for this week is, after visiting the Tabacalera wall, to spray paint a mural on a large sheet of paper. Behind street art there’s a message for society, a message that calls for an awakening, and thus, in our mural we will talk about respect: respect for mother nature, respect for others, and respect for oneself.
Photography: Oscar Rivilla
Conceptual design: Carolina Verd
Makeup by Guerlain
Fashion courtesy of Globally
Main picture: Dress and bag by Zadig & Voltaire
trainers by Diadoria
Second picture: Bomber by Kiabi, trousers by Intropia, trainers by Diadoria
Third picture: Top by Zadig & Voltaire, short jeans by Pepe Jeans, trainers by Graceland
Fourth picture: Hoodie by Zadig & Voltaire, silver skirt by Ba&sh, trainers by Diadora
Carolina Verd 