Valparaiso is a city that wears it soul on the outside. I mean this quite litterally as the entire city is painted. Not only are homes painted bright (you cannot paint your house the same color as your neighbor) but local and foriegn aritsts have come to make their mark on many of the city walls. I came to Valparaiso because I was interested in expereincing this painted city for myself. I have always been interested in public art and view it as a true expression of the people and the cities values. I want to spotlight a few artsist and hope this will act as inspirtation to my fellow travelers to go out and explore this inspiring city.
The best plac to begin in ith Valpo Street Art tours. The tour is free but tipping is more than recommended. This tour is fantastic. The guides are grafitti artists themselves and are very involved in the community as a whole. These are the best guides you could ask for. As they are all part of a larger community, my guide was able to explain the nature of grafitti culture. He explained the significance of grafitti and street art around the world and how it has inspired so much of the Valparaiso street art scene.
There are three primary artsist that made the most personal impact. Each has a clear presence all over Valpo. Un Kolor Distinto, Inti, and Cuelli Mangui.
Un Kolor Distinto is the only grafitti artist recognized by the Municipal Council. He has paid peices covering the entire city. Un Kolor Distinto (Sammy) collaborates with mnay artists to make incredible works of art. His personal style is very surrealist and have a whimiscal feeling to them!
My absolute favorite artist in Valparaiso in Inti. He gathers his inspiration from traditional Chilean culture. According to my guide, Inti is the most talented and respected artist in the city. He has gained international recognition and is currently sharing his beauty with Germany. Lucky them!
I was fortunate enough to briefly meet Cuelli Mangui while he was selling some of his paintings. He explained how he gathers inspiration. First, he throws color in patches all over the wall. Using these colors he fills in the spaces with black lines to define his peice and what the colors will represent. One of his peices turned the many colors into the scales of a lizzard and another became fish. I was so excited to meet one of these great artists and am now the owner of a Cuelli Mangui origional!
Valpo Street Art tours are the perfect intoduction to the style and popular artsists. I used them as my jumping off point to explore much more of the murals and grafitti around Valpo. This is a do not miss!
The best plac to begin in ith Valpo Street Art tours. The tour is free but tipping is more than recommended. This tour is fantastic. The guides are grafitti artists themselves and are very involved in the community as a whole. These are the best guides you could ask for. As they are all part of a larger community, my guide was able to explain the nature of grafitti culture. He explained the significance of grafitti and street art around the world and how it has inspired so much of the Valparaiso street art scene.
There are three primary artsist that made the most personal impact. Each has a clear presence all over Valpo. Un Kolor Distinto, Inti, and Cuelli Mangui.
Un Kolor Distinto is the only grafitti artist recognized by the Municipal Council. He has paid peices covering the entire city. Un Kolor Distinto (Sammy) collaborates with mnay artists to make incredible works of art. His personal style is very surrealist and have a whimiscal feeling to them!
My absolute favorite artist in Valparaiso in Inti. He gathers his inspiration from traditional Chilean culture. According to my guide, Inti is the most talented and respected artist in the city. He has gained international recognition and is currently sharing his beauty with Germany. Lucky them!
I was fortunate enough to briefly meet Cuelli Mangui while he was selling some of his paintings. He explained how he gathers inspiration. First, he throws color in patches all over the wall. Using these colors he fills in the spaces with black lines to define his peice and what the colors will represent. One of his peices turned the many colors into the scales of a lizzard and another became fish. I was so excited to meet one of these great artists and am now the owner of a Cuelli Mangui origional!
Valpo Street Art tours are the perfect intoduction to the style and popular artsists. I used them as my jumping off point to explore much more of the murals and grafitti around Valpo. This is a do not miss!
