Barrio of Street Art
In which I explore one of the neighborhoods most noted for its street art... and we're not (for the most part) talking graffiti.
About three and a half years ago I spent a good chunk of a day exploring barrio Coghlan, in the north part of the city. On that wander I had based my route on a list of things that the local barrio had listed on some semi-official website as the most interesting things to see. During the walk I noted some interesting graffiti, as well as some real art that adorned some scattered walls.
Recently, I was talking to someone who noted that there’s an entire culture of people hiring one of about a dozen local and international street artists, to paint the façades of their homes, and various other neighborhood buildings, with a concentration along one street, Estomba. So it was off to take a walk along that street, as well as a few paces off to one side or another to visit the more noted examples. I found that several of them, despite being touted on local sites, have vanished, as buildings have been sold and/or refurbished - including a couple that I’d seen on that previous walk.
There’s actually a company, Buenos Aires Street Art, that both offers street art tours, as well as curates and funds projects for this sort of art in the city. In and around Coghlan, over the last decade or so, they’ve funded more than 100 works. Here, a sampling of what I found on my latest wander.
Then there are the photos of some of the ones I encountered on my previous trip, a couple of which no longer exist. And, you can see above, that some of the ones that have been around for awhile are getting a bit rundown.
This one for example, where the building had just been sold, has basically been torn down and is being rebuilt, this mural of jazz artist Joe Daley by artist “Primo”, who also painted “The African Woman” above, is no more.
Worth a visit! And there’s apparently even more off on other streets in the barrio and surrounding neighborhoods.