The popular art

We can give the name grafiti, grafito or graffiti to the different ways of inscription or painting,
generally under private or public property like walls, vehicles, doors, and most of all skate parks. In the common language, graffiti also includes what we call drabs: the result of painting on walls signs, frequently with political or social content, without the permission of the owner of the property. We can also call graffiti the slogans that have been popularized with that technique, for example the phrase that has been used in May ´68 in Paris, France: “Under the cobbles is the beach”.

The expression “graffiti” is also used for referring to an artistic movement, different to painting or qualified as a subcategory of it. In my own opinion, I don’t really like graffiti, because it is considered an important element in the hip-hop culture, something that I hate. However, I have to admit that people who make graffiti pieces are really artists. I do not like that all the people who make graffiti are influenced by the culture of the United States. What I want to say is that the graffiti is not an art form that has been created in our country, on the contrary, it is an expression that has became famous some years ago, thanks to the strong influence of the American capitalism in Argentina, something that is impossible to stop nowadays.

In spite of all these setbacks, what I like about graffiti’s is that they always show the social moment that the society is living getting in touch with feelings through the colours, designs and slogans that are written. All the reasons that I have just stated plus the fact that I have never draw anything, can demonstrate that I could never made a graffiti or any other sort of art expression that can damage the public space. I found this graffiti in the Mitre train station between Nuñez and Rivadavia. If you like it, you must go and see it!