It was a brisk morning in Valencia, when perhaps I would usually walk a little quicker to get to my destination, and not notice too much around me.  But on this particular morning, I looked.  I also had a guide who helped me actively find amazing things to look at, and helped me better understand and appreciate them.  It wasn’t architecture, or flowers, or shop windows.  It was spray painted walls, fences, facades, and even electrical boxes.  And the artistry was amazing!  Here is some of what I learned and enjoyed:

Our guide was David de Limón*.  He has had a fascinating artistic career that included progressions of drawing lemons and lemon wedges as his graffiti sign – partly as an homage to the iconic oranges of Valencia.  But that shifted to a signature character that has made him well-known – a black ninja with a heart on his chest and usually a spray can in his hand.

David did his best to simplify the world of street art to an introductory level:

• Graffiti:  predominately letters which inherently create the signature, painted without permission, and done as a message for the graffiti community;
• Street Art: visual depictions over a background, not signed but artists are known by their style, painted without permission, and done with the artist’s sense of public good (which can even deter graffiti);
• Mural: visual depictions over a background, signed, painted with permission, and done to display the patron’s wishes.

Maybe these are debatable definitions (and what art stays within definitions anyway? And what about stickers, stencils, ….) but they certainly helped me looked for elements like signatures, backgrounds, and repeated characters.  It also gave me a better visual of a graffiti artist honing his/her piece into something that can be efficiently drawn (i.e. without stopping the spray can!) to minimize how long he/she is standing there at risk of being seen – and identified!

Mural:

My favourite mural on the tour was the whole #streetdecolores.  The basis of the work that covers the whole laneway, is a collection of photographs by Alfonso Calza.  Each photograph was regenerated on a wall, each by a different artist using different street art techniques.  It is crazy impressive!  And of course, It has its own website <www.lacalledecolores.com>

The mural that took me by surprise, covered an entire building.  It was done by the artist Tamara Kjurovi, known as Hyuro.  It was part of a Women of Science murals project promoted by a local university and the city.  It depicts a woman holding a crystal ball showing an ideal vision for cities.  Once David said the woman was Jane Jacobs it all made sense, and it gave me quite a flashback to college courses with reading lists that included The Death and Life of Great American Cities.  I had that book on my shelf for decades!

Street Art:

I was also struck by a mural of ‘tumbling’ cars attributed to the artist known as Escif.  Once David suggested that they could be tumbling upwards from an initial explosion as much as the subsequent return to the ground, the piece got a lot more layers to its message.  I wish I could remember the event he referenced in history involving an actual car bomb – but even without the specific details, the piece was captivating with this potential backstory.  The legend of Escif himself (or herself?) adds to the allure of the piece, that it can be so large, and the artist’s real name still remains anonymous!

It was because of the tour, I think, that I even noticed this next piece as I turned a corner wandering through the small alleys getting from the narrowest building in Europe to the church holding what it claims is the Holy Grail.  But there it was.  A simple pigeon.  But it made me pause, take in the moment, and smile.  Perhaps like the artist hoped.

Graffiti:

My favourite graffiti will have to be what we created ourselves – after a tutorial from David on how to even hold a spray can yet alone the various effects you can make with it!  We weren’t rebelliously outdoors on a random abandoned wall, but rather in the safety and comfort of a workshop.  But we had a great time playing around.  Within Remote Year, every cohort is given a name, and our program is called Ramses.  So that was our final, collective effort piece of graffiti (that David thankfully touched up, and then upgraded with the addition of a ninja!)

Here are a few other photos from our walk through the Barrio Del Carmen (Carmen district) in Valencia.  I highly recommend it as a great place to encounter and engage with awesome street art.  And the fun part is – by the time you get there, it may be totally different than what I saw!

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* Here is a link to a short bio for Limón that I found online: <https://urban-signature.com/en/artist/david-de-limon/> His instagram is @daviddelimon.