My 1st street art tour in Buenos Aires in photos.

If you have been following my blog or Instagram for a while you know I love street art. I have shared tons of street art from around the world and am obsessed. I have heard of street art tours and knew they were offered in some cities around the world. I have always wanted to take one, but was never in a city that offered one. That all changed when I arrived in Buenos Aires. While I was Buenos Aires I took my 1st street art tour with Buenos Aires Street Art and loved it.

Buenos Aires Street Art is an organization that supports the local street art scene and its artists. They organize mural projects, commissions and even wrote a book about Buenos Aires street art. They also run a blog that documents the amazing creativity to be found in the streets of Buenos Aires showcasing some spectacular artworks and featuring interviews with the most talented artists working in the city. They also offer Street Art tours that will take you off the beaten track to show you the biggest murals in Buenos Aires located in neighborhoods that aren’t in the tourist guidebooks.

During the street art tour I learned quite a bit about the street art scene in Buenos Aires. The city has some of the most relaxed laws on street art in the world. All you have to do to paint a wall is get the owners permission. Yup, knock… get a yes & paint. Because of that Buenos Aires is but a canvas for artist from all over the world. Our tour guide Sofia was very informative and provided the names of many of the artist and the techniques they use to create their masterpieces. The tour lasted several hours and through it we were able to see many murals. The best part of it is that during the tour you are walking through neighborhoods of Buenos Aires tourist never see and it was nice to just see another side to the city.

During the tour I went photo crazy and well took like a million photos. I have shared most of these on my Instagram account with short descriptions so have decided to bring those descriptions here with a few edits and share them with the photos I took with my actual camera. Some of these murals are not seen on the street art tour, but at the end are you are given a scavenger hunt for other amazing murals and can look for them if you would like. A few friends (I made during the tour) and I met up one day and decided to search for them and then spent the afternoon at the park. It was well worth it. My favorite thing about the street art I saw in Buenos Aires is that you have all types and most are not political, but send a powerful message of the state of the world. While you look through the photos pay attention to the detail and in some you will see what I am talking about when I say they share a powerful message.

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—This is the outside wall of a home. A mural of an African women by Argentine street artist PRIMO. He’s known for painting people of African decent & indigenous tribes.—

—3-D hyper realistic rhino exploding out of the wall of a house in the neighborhood of Coghlan in Buenos Aires by street artist ICE.—

—Our tour guide Sofia telling us the story behind this mural. It is a mural of jazz musician Joe Daley on the facade of a house in Coghlan by street artist PRIMO. The design is based on a portrait of Daley by photographer Benoit Felten.—

—Mural of a peacock on the wall of a house in the neighborhood of Coghlan in Buenos Aires by Chilean street artist @ren_graffiti. Ren is known for painting colorful birds.—

—A colorful mural by artist Colombian Street Artist Nomada. The design features a portrait of a woman with a third eye and three birds—

—“The Displaced” by Australian street artist @fintan_magee. “It covers the facade of a four-storey building in the neighborhood of Coghlan in Buenos Aires. It relates to the floods in Buenos Aires in April 2013.”—

—Mural by Fintan Magee and Martin Ron. The artwork is entitled “Castle in the Sand” and featuring two boys constructing a sandcastle inside a bubble on top of a cart. The bubble is being pulled by a tortoise whose shell is made from a military helmet and around them is a world of destruction.—

—Another mural by PRIMO of an African tribes women in the neighborhood of Coghlan in Buenos Aires. Those eyes… that face… just moves me when I look at it. She’s beautiful.—

—This was one of my favorite because I loved the red, but ugh sadly I do not remember the story behind it or the artist that created it. I didn’t write things down and it’s been almost two months.—

—The largest mural in Buenos Aires “El Cuento de Los Loros” by street artist @martinronmurales & Jiant Guiviro. This is one of the murals that was organized by Buenos Aires Street Art & measures 412m2 & took 16 days to complete in the neighborhood of Villa Urquiza. It’s a surrealist mural.—

—This mural hit me in the gut. I looked at it & literally thought “Fuck this is the world we live in. Cows are fed well & yet millions of people go without food every day.” That’s the street art I love. A piece of work that challenges you to see the reality of the world we live in. This is another mural by @elmariantedomenico & Voicot in the neighborhood of San Telmo in Buenos Aires.—

—People riding bikes on the street in the neighborhood of San Telmo in Buenos Aires with a huge mural of a horse riding a bike next to them. The mural was done by Spaniard street artist Aryz during Meeting of Styles in 2012. I do wonder what he’s trying to say with it? Maybe nothing at all but it’s an interesting mural.—

—“All the toys in one single place” a duo project between @martinronmurales & @nasepop in the neighborhood of Palermo in Buenos Aires. It’s a mural of his girlfriend taking a selfie. He just posted a photo of what it looks like above the city & looks bad ass. Check out Martin Rons gallery.—

—A 3 headed Hydra on a 7 story building by Argentine street artist Lean Frizzera & Spanish street artist Spok. In Greek mythology the Hydra was a serpent like water monster with many heads. Legend has it that for each head you cut off two more grow in its place. I honestly thought it was a dragon and because I used to collect dragons I loved it!!!—

—A random tagged abandoned car in the streets of Buenos Aires.—

—This a powerful mural in the neighborhood of Palermo in Buenos Aires by @elmariantedomenico with KNO of a group of youths throwing moltov cocktails. I love everything about this mural. It took me back to when I lived in Cairo during the anniversaries of the revolution & all the street art I saw there. A great representation of youths around the world today upset with the system that we live in now. At least those are my thoughts.—

—I do not know the story behind this mural, but know it’s by @elmariantedomenico and KNO.—

—Probably the most amazing stencil art I’ve ever seen. Only because I so believe in aliens and no joke I’ve so thought a time or two that I’d love to be abducted. Do you believe in Aliens? Would you wanna go?—

—It wouldn’t be Argentina without Maradona painted somewhere. He is regarded as the greatest football (soccer) player of all time. Even I who don’t watch football know who he is. Football is a religion down here. They have won the World Cup twice & come in 2nd place three times.This is “Maradona Hand of God” mural by Emy Mariani, Lean Frizzera and Martin Ron in Palermo—

—If it’s not soccer it’s Tango! Found this while I was walking to the Caminito in the neighborhood of La Boca.—

—“Homeless Bound” by @fintan_magee in the neighborhood of Palermo, Buenos Aires. It shows a man being burdened by the weight of his house & a mocking bird free as can be flying before him (the Ray of light literally). This was my favorite mural. I never thought of the burden that owning a home really is. Of course one day I want a home of my own but want a small one so its not such a burden. I mean seriously if you think about it, trying to provide a roof of some sort for yourself & your family is the biggest burden of all. No? What do you think? Check out some of his other work it’s very thought provoking.—

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Crazy amazing huh? This is why I love street art; not only does it remind me of how talented so many people are, but reminds me that people are passionate about something.  I think I shared enough of my thoughts under each photo so do not have much more to share here. Honestly though if you are in Buenos Aires book a Street Art Tour. It’s only $20 and the money goes to help artist and commission new work around the city. I am not a tour person, but this one is worth it. I

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