Street Art in Buenos Aires Argentina

The sunny disposition of Buenos Aires, Argentina — where there is literally constant sunshine, parties until 6 am, and every greeting includes a kiss — can blind visitors to the country’s darker chapters. There is a dramatic layered history of homelessness, poverty, missing people, and untimely deaths.

Street art exploded on the scene when Argentina’s Dirty War ended in the early 1980s; all the bottled up emotion was released and the people of Buenos Aires let the colors of their emotions paint over the city. Street art has since become commonplace in the city, where graffiti tagged walls mingle with murals that decorate nearly every public park. It has become such an integral part of the architecture and landscape that often people walking by a mural appreciate its vibrancy, but forget that the art is how the invisible is being made visible.

By looking at four street art projects, we can see how art is bringing light to the darker issues of Buenos Aires.

Milo Lockett is an Argentine painter who uses the process of creating street art as a tool of social change. He calls his work social art because each project involves a community and while he initiates and guides each art project, the final product is only possible because of the efforts of many. Whether bringing together kids to paint murals in their school or directing workshops for indigenous groups in the north, his work (both in theme, practice, and place) is meant to bring a message of love and hope.

This an excerpt, continue reading on AtlasObscura.com.