A Visual Feast

 

Every time I drive into Oaxaca, I’m struck by the ever-changing tapestry of graffiti art that adorns the city’s walls. Each visit is like unwrapping a new surprise, with vibrant colors and bold designs bringing life to unexpected corners and walls along streets and sidewalks. 

The beauty of Oaxaca’s graffiti lies not just in its artistry, but in its fleeting nature. What was once a plain wall can become a vivid canvas, only to be transformed again by a new artist with a fresh perspective. As an artist, I find myself drawn to these urban murals, eager to see what’s new, what messages are being shared, and how the city’s soul is being captured in paint and stencils. 

Oaxacan street art serves as a powerful form of expression for marginalized communities, blending artistic traditions with contemporary social commentary. It transforms the urban landscape into a canvas for resistance, cultural pride, and public dialogue on pressing issues facing the region.

Oaxacan street art often addresses:

- Indigenous culture and identity

- Social and political issues

- Protests against inequality, corruption, and violence

- Environmental activism

- Memorials for tragedies like earthquakes and missing persons

Artists employ various techniques, including:

- Murals and large-scale paintings

- Woodblock prints on biodegradable rice paper

- Stencils and spray paint

- Poster art and wheat pasting

It’s a visual feast that never gets old, each visit offering a new layer of creativity to explore. When Amy and I go to town, I am always dazzled by some new work adorning a wall. When one piece disintegrates or gets destroyed, another goes up. The graffiti in Oaxaca is more than just art; it’s a living, breathing expression of the city’s vibrant culture.

Stop and Take Notice

Certainly, some people don’t like it. It is commonly regarded as vandalism. But that is not true of all the “street” art found in Oaxaca. As an artist, I enjoy graffiti that is well done. Downtown walls in Oaxaca although often brightly painted are humble and plain, except for simple embellishments. All the graffiti gives flavor to the milieu. Oaxaca is one of the world’s printmaking and graphics centers—so it is bound to go out in the streets—especially with revolutionary fervor. Artists in Mexico are traditionally known to be in the vanguard of revolution.
I always carry my Leica camera with me when walking downtown looking for the unusual. It might be a beggar, a child, something thrown in the gutter or a building facade, etc.
Amy, being an artist, likes the wall art as well. Often she will stop in front of a woodblock print, pasted up on a wall and say, Wow! Other times a hand painted cartoon might grab us, such as La Calavera Catrina, lady death made up fancifully.

Yesterday, while we were downtown we walked by a wall with incredible images pasted upon it. An entrance to a restaurant is there, so permission must have been granted. The images were of black slaves in bondage. The pictures were an attempt to remind people that slavery existed in Mexico’s past. The Spaniards brought slaves to work on sugar plantations. I know about slavery in the USA but it is a surprise to learn of it in Mexico too.

Much of the graffiti is making a statement of some kind. So it is meant to provoke. Perhaps tourists and some locals object to this, but when it is done well, I stop and take notice.

Berlin

It was not long ago that Germany was an empire in ruins, divided in two parts, almost schizophrenic. Add to that the national horror of its Nazi past, and you get a country trying to scramble out of trauma and reinvent itself for the future. Maybe this is why Berlin seems lacking in aggression, almost quiet, even though it is an active place. So many possibilities exist here, since it has a deep culture and vital economy. The people want answers and look to the future; incredibly, Barack Obama’s largest gathering at a speech was the 200,000 in Berlin July 24.
Germany is environmentally conscious. I was at a checkout in a grocery store and stood confused when my items did not receive a bag. People are expected to bring their own. Bicycle paths share the sidewalks and you better watch not to walk in the area for cyclist or one will zoom up behind you and ring his bell. It is common to see people take their bikes onto the city trains. Escalators in the subways sometimes have eyes, and when nobody is nearby, they stop until a person approaches. I thought my eyes were being tricked when the stairs suddenly started to move.
It is amazing that almost everyone speaks good English. Many shops have names in English. It is a blessing to be able to converse easily with strangers. A world language in this day and age of planetary consciousness is necessary, and by default seems to be English. People everywhere need to be able to communicate and not be isolated by language.
My friend Steffen told me there are more bridges in Berlin than in Venice, something I could hardly believe. In the bohemian neighborhoods, graffiti is everywhere, and I had to laugh when Steffen said the city gives “graffiti workshops.” Drinking in public is allowed, and a common sight on the street, not just at bars and restaurants.
I have been spending my days exploring, taking photos, painting, visiting with new friends, and writing. My situation is good, and the days before I leave for Paris on August 21 are flying by. I like being in a city that is busy reinventing itself; just like an artist!