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| The 'indignant ones.' |
You probably see Toxicomano's work every day, on walls throughout Bogotá. Opinionated, irreverent, blasphemous, colorful. He's one of Bogotá's best-known graffiti artists.
Now, Toxicomano's also indoors, in the new Juan Salas Gallery tucked behind the Bosque Izquierdo apartment building on Carrera 5 in La Macarena. Moving graffiti art indoors is a funny thot, since far fewer people see it. When I visited the gallery, I was alone, as seems usual for art galleries except when they're giving away free wine and appetizers.
Still, the exhibition was interesting for the way that Toxicomano associated his works with headlines, using them to make pointed comments about society. Unsurprisingly, Toxicomano seems to sympathize with student protesters, is critical of misdeeds by the Catholic hierarchy, dislikes the mass media and
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| On the illegal traffic of wild animals. |
The exhibit is scheduled to continue until March 13th.
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| 'We are not false positives.' |
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| Gallery owner Juan Salas. |
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| Free Palestine. |
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| A paramilitary flees with public money. |
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| My dog Parchita in the gallery. |
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| Pope Benedict, public enemy No. 1. |
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| Bad priests. |
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| The mass media opens your eyes? |
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| Student drinking. |
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| We the ugly are much more beautiful. |
Juan Salas Galería (Cr 5 N° 26A-50, piso 3, Torre Bosque Izquierdo)Open Mon-Fri 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Saturdays 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
By Mike Ceaser, of
Bogotá Bike Tours, which offers graffiti bike tours.
You probably see Toxicomano's work every day, on walls throughout Bogotá. Opinionated, irreverent, blasphemous, colorful. He's one of Bogotá's best-known graffiti artists.
Still, the exhibition was interesting for the way that Toxicomano associated his works with headlines, using them to make pointed comments about society. Unsurprisingly, Toxicomano seems to sympathize with student protesters, is critical of misdeeds by the Catholic hierarchy, dislikes the mass media and 
The time for such art is passing. There's only so many, "in your face" shocking "art works" people can take without it getting tedious. In Europe that novelty has surely passed with Banksy's demise. I can guess Latin America is only just getting such nonsensical stuff now. The work would really be interesting if true intellectualism were demonstrated. Otherwise we're left with images that aren't all that hard to strike up with computers software. Guess I'll be seeing you at my future art gallery with some real enlightenment? ;)
ReplyDeleteI have seen this kind of work so much, that I'm just tired of it. I came to the conclusion long time ago that painting is definitely death. When I see work like the one displaced, I have to agree with Arthur C. Danto when he proclaims that painting lost its narrative. In any case, I like the gallery very much...
ReplyDeleteGood shots to Mike.