All posts tagged: Lluis Olive Bulbena

Post Royalty Fígols: Post-Graffiti at the Count’s Castle in the Pyrenees

Post Royalty Fígols: Post-Graffiti at the Count’s Castle in the Pyrenees


“Have you taken down the names for your paper yet?” she asked me. “Stay by my side and I will dictate them to you: the Count and Countess of Caralt, the Marquess of Palmerola, the Count of Fígols, the Marquess of Alella, the …

~ A Barcelona Heiress, By Sergio Vila-Sanjuán


Isabel Rabassa. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)

In the decade before the Spanish Civil War, Barcelona was on the verge of boiling over, and perhaps this castle in the Pyrenees mountains to the south was at its height of glory thanks to workers in its coal mines. The Count of Figols and his family enjoyed the view from the tower while the miners, some as young as 14 years old, kept toiling about 13 kilometers away – until they revolted in 1932.


SM172. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)

“The mining company, the greater part of which was owned by Liverpool-born José Enrique de Olano y Loyzaga, First Count of Figols, prohibited union organization and paid its workforce in tokens redeemable only in the company stores.”

Revolution and the State: Anarchism in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939, by Danny Evans.


SM172. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)

Today you can hashtag Figols (#figols) on social media and you can see the tower (Torre del Compte de Fígols) and wander through the ruins of the castle (Castillo Conde de Fígols) – and discover new graffiti pieces and paintings throughout the rooms. That’s what photographer Lluis Olive Bulbena did last week when he went to check out some fresh stuff he heard was painted here about 120 km north of Barcelona. We thank him for sharing his images with BSA readers from the castle of the Count of Figols.

The Count of Figols: “José Enrique de Olano y Loyzaga, basc però nascut el 1858 a Liverpool, va ser el promotor de Carbones Berga S.A., adquirida l’any 1893” – from Directa
SM172. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
SM172. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Isabel Rabassa. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Isabel Rabassa. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Isabel Rabassa. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Isabel Rabassa. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Paulo Consentino. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Ives One. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Sebastiene Waknine. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Sebastiene Waknine. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Sebastiene Waknine. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Rubicon. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
a FASE. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Unidentified artist. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Juanjo Surace. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Gerson Ruiz. Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Castillo Conde de Figols. Catalonia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
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Spanish “El Konvent” Welcomes Street Artists and Nurtures Collective Culture

Spanish “El Konvent” Welcomes Street Artists and Nurtures Collective Culture

Typically you may expect to be praying the novena and asking God for absolution of your dastardly sins here in this sprawling compound called The Konvent near Barcelona. While no one would stop you today, you may also wish to check out a number of new installations throughout the many buildings by Street Artists.

Teo Vazquez (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)

The Roman Catholic former convent hosted 50 or so artists over the last couple of years to transform the space, perhaps to reinterpret its original charge in a modern light, perhaps just to ready the compound for commercial, cultural, and community pursuits of the owners.

Certainly the decaying spaces and austere aesthetic is inviting, calming, possibly frightening, depending on your associations. Now they are home for music, dance, theatre, film festivals, and artist residencies – often offered only in Catalan but some also in European Spanish.

Teo Vazquez (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)

As you walk through the spaces you are welcomed by these works by artists, many of them at one time or another categorized as Street Artists, whose voices now usher in a new era of contemplation and perhaps internal exploration.

Our thanks to photogapher and BSA contributor Lluis Olive Bulbena for sharing these images from El Konvent.

For more information about El Konvent please Click HERE

Jofre Oliveras (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Unidentified artist (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Samuel Aranda Studio (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
AEC – Interesni Kazki (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Valiente Creations (photo © Lluis Olive)
Holy Era (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Wedo . Slim (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Wedo (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Slim (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Slim (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Slim (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Mugraff (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Troy Lovegates (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Troy Lovegates (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Juanjo Surace (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Simon Vazquez . Sebastien Waknine (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
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Dave Il is a Jolting Joker In Barcelona

Dave Il is a Jolting Joker In Barcelona

Dude you crack me up. You are such a joker.

Dave Il (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena

Dave II is an aptly comedic illustrationist with the paint can, and it is hard to believe that such potent jocularity in the hidden spots of this abandoned building wouldn’t scare you on a dark night with a flashlight in hand.

Dave Il (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena

All freshly painted this year, this bounty of boffo brutes and beasts are available for you to discover lurking around the corners of this undisclosed location in the area of Barcelona, Spain, thanks to the effort exploration and documentation of frequent BSA collaborator Lluis Olive Bulbena.

Dave Il (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena
Dave Il (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena
Dave Il (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena
Dave Il (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena
Dave Il (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena
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El Niño de las pinturas, Xolaka and Niño de Cobre; Dispatch from Benicarló, Spain.

El Niño de las pinturas, Xolaka and Niño de Cobre; Dispatch from Benicarló, Spain.

A few new marine-themed murals today from Benicarló in Valencia.


The realistic romantic stylings of many a muralist is a staple of current Urban Art Festivals right now, including a new one painted by the artist named El Niño de las pinturas, who mines fantasy and history, borrowing from memories, archetypes.

Niño De cobre. Benicarlo, Valencia. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)

Completed in July during the annual patron saint festival, this year including the third edition of the urban art initiative Camden Bló, El Nino (from Granada) was joined by Xolaka, from Alcúdia (Valencia), the Argentinian Andrés Cobre, and illustrator César Cataldo.

It’s good to see the variety of styles being favored for local festivals and great to see artists getting opportunities to paint in the public sphere – even endorsed by the ministry of culture in this small town of 26,000 along the Mediterranean coast. Special thanks to photographer Lluis Olive Bulbena, who shares his photos with BSA readers.

Niño De cobre. Benicarlo, Valencia. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Xolaka. Benicarlo, Valencia. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Xolaka. Benicarlo, Valencia. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
El Nino de las Pinturas. Benicarlo, Valencia. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
El Nino de las Pinturas. Benicarlo, Valencia. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
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“Street Art City” in the Middle of France

“Street Art City” in the Middle of France

Summertime spray-cations are as popular for the jet-setting aerosol explorer as much as your local graffiti and Street Artist. Grabbing your bicycle, taking a bus, or simply hiking with a backpack full of cans, many writers make a full day of it, or decide to camp out at the abandoned factory, hanging with friends and listening to music.

Aero (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)

For a photographer of Street Art and murals, its possibly just as much entertainment – just ask BSA contributor, Lluis Olive Bulbena. On vacation with his wife and grandkids between Lyon and Clemont Ferrant (about 250 km south of Paris) he discovered a compound filled with new paintings on the commune of lurcy-Lévis. Informally known as Street Art City, the project is the brainchild of Gilles Iniesta and features hundreds of works on facades out in the open and others in hidden locations – including many who have made the pilgrimage to leave their marks on the walls or inside the dilapidated rooms of Hotel 128 (more about the hotel tomorrow). .Thanks to some good crops of visiting artists this summer, it looks like rural France has a good selection of painting styles to choose from this season.

Aero (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Aero (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Street Art City (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
SimpleG 1 (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
SimpleG 1 (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Depose (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
BKFoxx . Zesoner (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
BKFoxx . Zesoner (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Atek (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Ted Nomad (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Ted Nomad (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Ted Nomad (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Caro Pepe (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Zesoner (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
CreyOne (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
CreyOne (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Oji . FVP (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Kelkin (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
More In Color (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
RTM ONE (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Stinkfish (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Soone (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Poncho . Garabato . Basto . Daco. MORNE (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
Street Art City (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)
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Your Street Art Makes My Rent Go Higher

Your Street Art Makes My Rent Go Higher

Photographer Lluis Olive took a quick trip recently to Madrid and he did what he loves to do; took photos of graffiti and shared with us his new discoveries. This one caught our attention.

On Calle Embajadores he found that a mural by the Madrid based artist Okuda was dissed with “Tu Street Art Me Sube El Alquiler” or roughly, “Your Street Art Makes My Rent Go Higher”.

Background, Okuda with anonymous tagger. Madrid, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive)

And the writer has a point, going to the heart of gentrification, and its connection to art.

It goes like this: Rotten, abandoned, vermin infested and derelict neighborhoods with large industrial buildings left in a state of decay are “discovered” by creatives who make them their homes and studios. Artists work to make any environment aesthetically pleasing, and that’s often their downfall.

Last night in a Brooklyn beer garden a buddy told us that he had taken a complete toxic dump in the lot behind his apartment and slowly transformed it into a beautiful garden. For his efforts, he said, the landlord wanted to raise his rent because he now has an attractive garden apartment that he should be charging a higher price for, according to the market. Punished for success?

This aerosol defacement of Okuda’s mural is a partially accurate statement– at least indirectly. But let’s not scapegoat the artist as the one to blame for gentrification. That’s an oversimplification of a complex cycle that no one appears able to diffuse effectively because the incentivized real estate system is surely twisted in many cities.

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Abandoned La Puda Baths Home to New Artworks in Montserrat, Spain

Abandoned La Puda Baths Home to New Artworks in Montserrat, Spain

Street Art is not about legal murals.

There are a number of misconceptions by persons unfamiliar with history or the organic unregulated illegal and unrestricted practices of urban intervention regarding this. Anyone who has thoughtfully and carefully followed what artists have been doing without permission in public and abandoned spaces over the last few decades will know that mural festivals and other legal and/or commercial mural initiatives are just that. They are not displaying examples of Street Art.

SM172. La Puda. Montserrat, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive)

The commodification of the original freewheeling practices of Street Artists and its visual vernacular in commercial campaigns, coupled with the proliferation of mural festivals that subtly or explicitly neuter the activist element that critiques politics and society, is regrettable – although predictable.

Like the one we feature here today, Street Artists don’t treat abandoned places simply as galleries to sell sneakers or prints; with murals slapped thoughtlessly check to jowl as selfie-backdrops and vehicles for “urban” brand logos. Here one can gain appreciation of the works as they are situated amidst the ruins; a self-granted residency or laboratory where your art placed in a new context alters everything around it.

La Puda. Montserrat, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive)

Luckily, photographers who don’t mind working and who still long for the days of illegal urban art exploration and discovery continue the hunt for those oases that lie off-the-beaten-path. 

“Ruin porn” is such a pithy simplification of this desire to document our forgotten places, to reconnect with and review our history, our lore, our systems of values. We prefer the term “urban exploration” for conquests such as these. Here artists find a new home and inspiration from the beauty of decay, taking residency in the ruins of what may have been splendor.

SM172. La Puda. Montserrat, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive)

Photographer and BSA contributor Lluis Olive recently visited one such oasis called La Puda, an abandoned mineral bath resort at the foot of the Montserrat Mountains near Barcelona, Spain. Build in 1870 it closed its doors in 1958, and in the intervening six decades the building has suffered from floods, thieves, fern and fauna.

Despite the western classical markings of strength an power like colonnades, entablature, and soaring arches, presently the place is in various states of ruin due to abandonment. Here Mr. Olive gives us a small photo essay of the work of one artist, SM172. These unsigned works remind us that not everyone is in it for the “fame” because we had to ask around to find who the author is. Luckily we have the smartest readers!

SM172. La Puda. Montserrat, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive)
SM172. La Puda. Montserrat, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive)
SM172. La Puda. Montserrat, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive)
SM172. La Puda. Montserrat, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive)
SM172. La Puda. Montserrat, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive)
SM172. La Puda. Montserrat, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive)
SM172. La Puda. Montserrat, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive)
SM172. La Puda. Montserrat, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive)
La Puda. Montserrat, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive)
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No Borders: Murs Contra el Murs (Walls Against Walls)

No Borders: Murs Contra el Murs (Walls Against Walls)

This past Sunday, February 17 at La Plaza de las Tres Chimeneas ( Three Smokestacks Square) in Barcelona an international group of artists participated in the first “No Borders Festival.”

Carles G.O’D. No Borders Festival. Barcelona, Spain. February 2019. (photo © Lluís Olive)

Called “Murs Contra el Murs”, which is Catalan for “Walls Against Walls”, the multi-mural festival intends to highlight the ongoing humanitarian crises of refugees and immigrants at international borders around the world.

Graffiti artists, Street Artists, painters, and illustrators came together to create new murals to speak to the issue and encourage debate and conversation. Artists included Btoy, Carles G.O’D, Dixon, Eledu, Enric Sant, Javier Arribas, Juanjo Surace, Julieta XLF, Kenor, Kram, Pincho, Roc Blackblock, Ruina, Saturno, Simón Vázquez, Tutzo, and Wati Bacán, among others.

Julieta XLF. No Borders Festival. Barcelona, Spain. February 2019. (photo © Lluís Olive)

NO BORDERS is a grassroots organization that was created to raise awareness about the refugees, to demand their acceptance, and to raise funds through debates, art and documentaries.

They say they want to raise the uncomfortable questions – which will undoubtedly lead to uncomfortable answers as well. To paraphrase the text on their website:

“Do we settle for a society that violates its moral and legal obligations to refugees? A refugee is a person who flees – Flees because he is on the losing side. Because he thinks, feels or prays differently than those who point him with their weapons.”

As usual, artists are bringing these matters to the street for the vox populi to debate.

Our sincere thanks to photographer Lluís Olive for sharing his shots of the walls with BSA readers.

Enric Sant. No Borders Festival. Barcelona, Spain. February 2019. (photo © Lluís Olive)
Enric Sant. No Borders Festival. Barcelona, Spain. February 2019. (photo © Lluís Olive)
El Rey de la Ruina. No Borders Festival. Barcelona, Spain. February 2019. (photo © Lluís Olive)
Juanjo Surace. No Borders Festival. Barcelona, Spain. February 2019. (photo © Lluís Olive)
Royal. No Borders Festival. Barcelona, Spain. February 2019. (photo © Lluís Olive)
Saturno Art . Eledu Works. No Borders Festival. Barcelona, Spain. February 2019. (photo © Lluís Olive)
Pincho. No Borders Festival. Barcelona, Spain. February 2019. (photo © Lluís Olive)
Kenor. No Borders Festival. Barcelona, Spain. February 2019. (photo © Lluís Olive)
Roc Black Block . Rubicon. No Borders Festival. Barcelona, Spain. February 2019. (photo © Lluís Olive)
TVTZO. No Borders Festival. Barcelona, Spain. February 2019. (photo © Lluís Olive)

For more information on the festival running through March 3rd that includes documentaries, panel discussions, workshops, and prints, please go to https://noborders.es/ and follow @nobordersrefugees on Instagram

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Pop Culture at Citric Festival in Torreblanca, Spain

Pop Culture at Citric Festival in Torreblanca, Spain

Celebrity, photorealism, illustration, fantasy, spectacle. These have always been part of popular art culture and have had an increasingly strong representation in Street Art culture, particularly in the last decade and a half as well.

Pablo lurking over the wall by Cobre Art. Citric Festival 2018. Torreblanca, Spain. (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Since the earliest reproductions of comic-book characters and voluptuous women by graff writers on subway cars in the 1970s, the chasm between your life and this art in public is short. From pin-up girls to stylized Dali’s to adorable animals, its the thrill of recognition, the associations you have with the figure’s back-story, and the familiarity with the visual nomenclature that makes it popular.

Audiences in Torreblanca, Spain have been responding strongly to these images for their local Citric Festival, and photographer Lluís Olivé Bulbena was on the street from last month’s events and he shares some of his shots with BSA readers. Our thanks to him.

Dados Punto Cero. Citric Festival 2018. Torreblanca, Spain. (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Dados Punto Cero. Citric Festival 2018. Torreblanca, Spain. (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Dados Punto Cero. Citric Festival 2018. Torreblanca, Spain. (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Dados Punto Cero. Citric Festival 2018. Torreblanca, Spain. (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Dados Punto Cero in collaboration with Asier Vera. Citric Festival 2018. Torreblanca, Spain. (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Dados Punto Cero in collaboration with Asier Vera. Citric Festival 2018. Torreblanca, Spain. (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Dados Punto Cero in collaboration with Asier Vera. Citric Festival 2018. Torreblanca, Spain. (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Daniela Volchkova. Citric Festival 2018. Torreblanca, Spain. (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Danielle Weber. Citric Festival 2018. Torreblanca, Spain. (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Uruginal in collaboration with Kenor. Citric Festival 2018. Torreblanca, Spain. (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Uruginal in collaboration with Kenor. Citric Festival 2018. Torreblanca, Spain. (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Lezzart. Citric Festival 2018. Torreblanca, Spain. (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

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Simone de Beauvoir: “La Clausura Del Infierno” (The Closing Of Hell)

Simone de Beauvoir: “La Clausura Del Infierno” (The Closing Of Hell)

It is in the knowledge of the genuine conditions of our lives that we must draw our strength to live and our reasons for living.”

French existentialist, feminist, and intellectual Simone de Beauvoir saw the hell created by us and held us accountable to be performative agents in actively transcending the facts of our existence. Since April three artists have been depicting that hell on the exterior wall of Torrent de les Bruixes Institute in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, and they give Ms. De Beauvoir heroic role, triumphal; rising untouched and ebullient above the pit of vipers, monsters, dragons and fantastical embodiments of evils.

Sebastien Waknine . Simón Vázquez . Juanjo Surace: “La Clausura Del Infierno”. Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain. 2018 (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

They call it “La Clausura Del Infierno”, roughly translated as “The Closing of Hell”. Perhaps it could be called “The Opening of Hell” as well.

Because we know you love to see the process as well as the final piece, here is a prime example of how the artists conceive the beginning of a mural by codifying colors. It is impressive how artists Sebastien Waknine, Simón Vázquez, and Juanjo Surace decided to sketch the forms and composition on the wall, using colors and shapes as code.

Our special thanks to photographer Lluís Olivé Bulbena, who shares these images with BSA readers.

Sebastien Waknine . Simón Vázquez . Juanjo Surace: “La Clausura Del Infierno”. Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain. 2018 (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Sebastien Waknine . Simón Vázquez . Juanjo Surace: “La Clausura Del Infierno”. Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain. 2018 (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Sebastien Waknine . Simón Vázquez . Juanjo Surace: “La Clausura Del Infierno”. Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain. 2018 (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Sebastien Waknine . Simón Vázquez . Juanjo Surace: “La Clausura Del Infierno”. Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain. 2018 (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Sebastien Waknine . Simón Vázquez . Juanjo Surace: “La Clausura Del Infierno”. Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain. 2018 (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Sebastien Waknine . Simón Vázquez . Juanjo Surace: “La Clausura Del Infierno”. Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain. 2018 (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Sebastien Waknine . Simón Vázquez . Juanjo Surace: “La Clausura Del Infierno”. Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain. 2018 (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Sebastien Waknine . Simón Vázquez . Juanjo Surace: “La Clausura Del Infierno”. Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain. 2018 (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Sebastien Waknine . Simón Vázquez . Juanjo Surace: “La Clausura Del Infierno”. Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain. 2018 (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Sebastien Waknine . Simón Vázquez . Juanjo Surace: “La Clausura Del Infierno”. Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain. 2018 (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Sebastien Waknine . Simón Vázquez . Juanjo Surace: “La Clausura Del Infierno”. Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain. 2018 (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Sebastien Waknine . Simón Vázquez . Juanjo Surace: “La Clausura Del Infierno”. Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain. 2018 (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Sebastien Waknine . Simón Vázquez . Juanjo Surace: “La Clausura Del Infierno”. Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain. 2018 (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)


Social: @IES Torrent de les Bruixes @Sebastien Waknine @Simon Vazquez @Juanjo Surace @Gloria Ortiz @Arnau Art

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La Nau Bostik Dispatch: A Barcelona Cultural Haven Filled by Murals

La Nau Bostik Dispatch: A Barcelona Cultural Haven Filled by Murals

Images today from La Nau Bostik, an artist run complex in Barcelona that aims to be sustainable, inspirational, and a breathing living cultural oasis. By most accounts, it succeeds wildly.

Murals often accompany citizen-run cultural initiatives and art spaces like these, frequently to great effect. The spaces are raw and neglected and needs a sense of life and color; new narratives to fill the space with interactions and hopefully inspire collaboration.

Juanjo Surace. Detail. Nau Bostik, Barcelona. (photo LluÍs Olivé Bulbena)

Xavier Basiana and his cultural compatriots have established a community cultural and intellectual place in a settlement of ex-industrial warehouses over the last decade along the train tracks in La Sagrera, and the once barren soil now sprouts an ever growing crop of portraits, characters, fantasies, political and social messages.

In cities that we have the opportunity to visit we occasionally get to see these vibrant spaces like La Nau Bostik, now a cultural fixture that draws thousands throughout the year for a rich mix of programming and engagement. Surrounded by great organic works on the walls by fine artists and current or former Street Artists and graffiti writers, the environment seems to foster a re-generation of people-fueled ideas for progress, problem solving and dreaming.

Ivan Floro. Nau Bostik, Barcelona. (photo LluÍs Olivé Bulbena)

Without the synergistic effects of weaving all of these elements of education, celebration, theater, academic examination, civic engagement, the plastic arts, performance, labor, and commerce, these places may not be able to offer a safe place for free thought and internal exploration. As ever, it is the combined effect of a variety of talents that creates the greater sum. With so many factors and parties at play, maintaining a sense of balance is an ongoing goal.

Today we are happy to visit this arts space via the camera work of photographer Lluis Olive Bulbena, who we thank for sharing his images with BSA readers.

Miquel Wert. Nau Bostik, Barcelona. (photo LluÍs Olivé Bulbena)

SM172. Nau Bostik, Barcelona. (photo LluÍs Olivé Bulbena)

Ant Carver. Nau Bostik, Barcelona. (photo LluÍs Olivé Bulbena)

MAR. Nau Bostik, Barcelona. (photo LluÍs Olivé Bulbena)

Tim Marsh. Nau Bostik, Barcelona. (photo LluÍs Olivé Bulbena)

Vassilis Rebelos. Nau Bostik, Barcelona. (photo LluÍs Olivé Bulbena)

OneTruth Bros. Nau Bostik, Barcelona. (photo LluÍs Olivé Bulbena)

Oxalien . Konair. Nau Bostik, Barcelona. (photo LluÍs Olivé Bulbena)

Juanjo Surace. Nau Bostik, Barcelona. (photo LluÍs Olivé Bulbena)

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BSA Images Of The Week: 03.04.18

BSA Images Of The Week: 03.04.18

BSA-Images-Week-Jan2015

We made it! But it was a rough few days just finished with storms and rain and snow and high winds and flooding and downed trees around New York and its environs. Similarly, as one surveys the chaos reigning in Washington, one must not be blinded by the sound and fury and has to measure what foundations are being broken and what soil is being eroded during this deliberate and man-made storm. Also Tax Payers, You’ve Been Scammed.

In other news Street Artist JR and New Wave cinema pioneer Agnès Varda are well positioned for an Oscar tonight, Nuart continues a 2nd year in the beautification of Aberdeen, Street Artist Haifa Subay is painting murals to help ensure that victims of Yemen’s grueling three-year civil war are not forgotten, conservative Street Artist Sabo took over three billboards to attack Hollywood about hidden pedophilia, a Florida billboard calls NRA a ‘terrorist organization’ , INDECLINE did a billboard takeover protesting gun violence and criticizing the ease of gun access, and NY street collage artist PhoebeNewYork says her background in fashion is the driving influence in her work on the streets.

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Below Key, Bond TruLuv, Bunny M, Combo, Crash, Eleonora Arosio, Faith XVVII, Free the Bunny, Imraan Christian, Jaeraymie, Lamkat, Little Ricky, Manyoly, Olek, Ollio, PAM, Paper Skaters, RAD, SK, Specter, and UFO907.

Top Image: Crash for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Combo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ollio in Stockholm. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Manyoly (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Manyoly (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Paper Skaters (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek. Magic City Stockholm. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Eleonora Arosio (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jaeraymie. Free The Bunny (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Below Key (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bond TruLuv. Magic City Stockholm. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Little Ricky (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RAD (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RAD (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter McDonlad’s Take Over. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

UFO 907 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faith47 . Imraan Christian at Magic City Stockholm. Deatail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lamkat (photo © Jaime Rojo)

bunny M (photo © Jaime Rojo)

PAM . SK. Barcelona, Spain. (photo © Lluís Olivé Bulbena)

Untitled. Subway reflection. Stockholm, Sweden. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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