Since leaving Australia I have developed a bit of a thing about Street Art in particular stencil art – keeping an eye out for new, imaginative images in different cities. Now some may say this is no more than graffiti and in a lot of cases I would tend to agree. But I have found that the more interesting the city – the more interesting the art (in my opinion at least). So here are some of the better ones I have seen:

Most Prolific Artist:
Cascais / Lisbon Portugal Dalaiama – this guy was across Cascais and Lisbon everywhere I turned, from 5” tall motifs to 5ft tall paintings


Most Used Theme:
Believe it or not “Bugs” it seemed to be a northern Spain thing but will monitor this closely
Baiona

A Coruna


Most Berated Corporation:
No prizes for guessing here – not sure if it is warranted – but McD’s seemed to be the target after the government


Best Town Coverage:
This would have to go to Lisbon – not a winner of tidy towns as far as I’m concerned, but interesting none the less. Once you moved off the main thoroughfares the stencil work was everywhere – here are just a few examples:


Best Small Town Coverage:
Baiona Spain – as well as the bugs (see below) there were a number of active stencillers in Baiona, from the harbour wall to the back streets. They included both the rude and politically motivated images but were always clear and well done.


I particularly enjoyed the early utilities inspired work of the electricity department prior to the creation of stencils

 
Most Intricate: Lanzarote Canary Islands Spain
Lanzarote is a constructed community, not so long ago a local architect and hero Ceasar Manrique thought white buildings on the black volcanic lava fields would look good and attract tourists – and he was right – it looks great and we will be heading back for our second visit soon but as a result there is very little street art, which local authorities probably smile about. However this guy found a small park not so far from Ceasar’s home to lay down some fine and detailed work


Best Government Sponsored Art:
Okay this is not strictly stencil art but I saw it everywhere on mountains, cliffs and hills in Morocco. I asked the Office Manager in the marina what it meant and she told me “ God, Queen and Country, no wait we don’t have a queen, it is God, King and country” – her words not mine.


Most Delicate:
Viana do Castella 12/07– the line work on this was very fine but with the message, it lacked a scoob in the picture to “expand the mind”


Something Different:
Well I am not sure if it is a publicity poster or the creators don’t want to be “graffiti artists” but I have noticed stencil work on paper posted in Spain and Portugal, both big pieces and prominent – were they scared of getting caught in the act? Here is the A Coruna and Salamanca versions

   

Special Mention:
I don’t know but I thought that this was done inside the entrance to a Tabac in A Coruna sort of drew my attention – it had been there a while and not removed – did the tabac owner just like it or if it was there meant no-one else would attack his store again?


Best Overall:
Santa Cruz de Tenerife 06/08 – the artist caught in action.


Now mum, you may be concerned that I have turned into a street artist criminal, but Karen did check in broken Spenglish that it was ok otherwise there would be no photographic evidence.
It was based on this experience that I have judged the others – I spent 3 days learning photoshop to create the design (sorry Amanda, Dean and Mark, obviously those hours I spent in the design studio on the passport helped me very little), another three days cutting the stencils and reinforcing them, 10 days convincing Karen that the expense of the paint was worth it given we were leaving our mark on the world and 1 day painting it.  Hats off to the guys that can do this quickly and get great results!