Happy New Year: Top five posts of 2011

Happy 2012! This past year, I’ve taken this little blog with me around the world, leaving my Berkeley home and venturing to Barcelona, my city of birth St. Petersburg and a few other destinations in between. It has been a true pleasure seeing so much art and creative energy on the street and meeting some of the people behind it. If you’re curious, here are the top 5 most popular posts of 2011. Picking my favorite artworks would be too difficult, but it’s interesting to see what people have been drawn to nonetheless. I’m going harder in 2012, just you wait.

5.

Kashink at Sauvons La Jarry, Paris

4. 

ATWA, Oakland

3. Bronik at FemGraff, Barcelona

2. 

Vigilante Vigilante, Berkeley

1. JCHM, Barcelona

Sauvons la Jarry

(Left to right: Monkey, ClaireStreetart, Malakkai)

I just returned to Barcelona from my trip to Paris. I had the pleasure of attending Sauvons la Jarry, an enormous multidisciplinary group show where over 100 artists took over the walls of a 6000 square meter warehouse in Vincennes, just outside the city. La Jarry has housed a community of artists for 80 years, and from what I gather from my very limited French comprehension, the participants of the show gathered to raise awareness for the endangered cultural space. Apart from incredible murals, the show featured enough photography, music, performances and good company to keep you entertained until the spraypaint fumes got to your head. Here are some of my favorite murals from the show, attributed to the artists to the best of my knowledge.

OperaGraphiks

Kashink

Beerens

Jeanspezial collective

Prototype Inachevee