STREET ART AND GRAFFITI WORKSHOP IN VALENCIA

Denunciation and beauty
Valencia’s Street Art is, above all, a form of complaint. It is a latent and open message to anyone who wants to see it. It is a means of social communication that bypasses the system’s barriers—that same system that, as Escif says, «under the umbrella of security and coexistence, reduces our freedoms to their minimum expression.»

In addition to the social denunciation aspect of graffiti, we must remember its artistic part, which beautifies the city’s walls, streets, and squares. If possible, this sense becomes more important when it comes to the Barrio del Carmen.

A neighborhood whose walls or facades were neglected and forgotten and somehow, thanks to those graffiti, come back to life.

It is a recovery of streets and squares that return to the present and the current through urban art and tourism. Many people worldwide seek to explore these once-forgotten streets to enjoy the most authentic urban art.

Graffiti artists in Valencia

Throughout this street art route in Valencia, we will learn about the different works of many artists, including national and international artists who have intervened on the walls of Valencia to leave their mark.

Escif
Among them stands out the Valencian artist Escif. We find several of his works along the route. In his interventions, social and political denunciation takes center stage.

An example is the Police Van on Músico Peydró Street, which complains about police brutality, especially during protests. His work The Car, located next to Plaza del Tossal, shows a vehicle falling from the top of the building.

Escif has left his mark not only on Valencia’s walls but also in Berlin, London, Miami, and Mexico.

Hyuro
Another outstanding artist who has left her art on Valencia’s walls is the Argentine Hyuro. She fights against the patriarchal system for equality. In her artistic works, the female figure is usually the protagonist. A woman who suffers repression from the system, on whom all social burden falls, who is not the owner of her destiny or her freedom.

Some of her works we’ll visit during this street art route in Valencia are «Women holding and being part of the city». It is located near Plaza de la Merced. Also, Animal Abuse, in which the denunciation focuses on social passivity in the face of this type of abuse. Her works stand out for their light and gray tones.

Other artists
Many other urban art artists have left their mark in Valencia, whose works we can admire along this route. The Valencian Julieta XLF surprises us with her iconography of a more oriental and childlike nature full of colorful fantasy. We will find some of her works on Calle Corona, Calle Doctor Chiarri, or Calle Beneficencia.

The Italian Blu will also surprise us with his work of Moses with a snake beard, located next to Plaza del Tossal.

On a nearby wall, the Barcelona artist Fasim denounces the horror suffered by war victims in his Stop War Victim’s Wall. In this work, we can appreciate some influence from the Guernica by the Malaga-born painter Pablo Picasso.

Deih finds his inspiration in comics, but through characters surrounded by loneliness.

El Carmen neighborhood, an open-air museum

In addition to learning about the different expressions of urban art, on the Street Art route in Valencia, we’ll visit El Carmen, one of Valencia’s most charming neighborhoods and one of the oldest in the city.

It originates in the thirteenth century, after the Christian conquest by the Aragonese king Jaume I the Conqueror. Its narrow, labyrinthine streets take us centuries ago when the Muslim and Christian walls delimited it.
El Carmen has always been a bohemian neighborhood, a trendy nightlife spot, and a center for artistic trends of all kinds.

Practical workshop: we will paint a graffiti in Valencia

At the end of this graffiti route in Valencia, the group moves to where the practice occurs, in the Cabañal neighborhood.

With everything seen and learned about techniques and trends in urban art, it’s time to put ideas into action.

The group will unleash their creativity and imagination. It is the ideal opportunity to transmit their ideas to others and to leave their mark through their intervention on a real wall on the street.

The group will be assisted by a professional throughout the workshop, and professional materials will be used to make it as real as possible.

We will use Montana 94 spray, a classic among graffiti artists worldwide.

After finishing the work, we will conclude with the assurance of having enjoyed and contributed to the prolific urban art of Valencia.