In the wake of the global growth of interest in art in the streets, one form of tourism that may soon be blowing up could be graffiti excursions, street art sightseeing, or even mural journeying. New York and Los Angeles have been a magnet for years for aerosol artists and street art-enthusiasts but visiting Lisbon, and experiencing its street art first hand, was just the opposite. 
When planning your trip to Portugal, I highly suggest including a hunt of the elusive wheat-pastes, stencils, and fill-ins in order to capture an exotic local feel than any museum could offer. And why not take a few pictures with your favorite works by street artists that you only previously saw on Instagram or other street art blogs? 
When I told my friends my plan to find some of the work I’d researched, they scoffed, looking at me like I was crazy to think there was any street art worth seeing in Lisbon. Perhaps because of the way the city is designed, or because it was a somewhat random tour I’d planned on taking with multiple destinations that they’d never heard of. I thought I would be the only tourist in Lisbon seeking to discover this street art suggested through other street art enthusiasts but I was wrong. Urban or contemporary, this project has a tremendous following that I had not anticipated. I decided to take my friends on my own, self made “art tour” last week in Lisbon, Portugal and in preparing for the trip, I started by using the “Underdogs” and the local “Vhils” project as some of the references for where to begin (as they had been the most mentioned in all the research I’d done). 
“Underdogs is an international working platform based in Lisbon, Portugal that aims at creating space within the contemporary art scene for artists connected with the new languages of urban visual culture,” say the organizers, and they have curated a program of some large-scale pieces around the city in a manner that makes them seem like the installations have been there for decades, rather than a handful of years.
Our “tour” began unexpectedly when immediately after leaving the airport, our taxi driver unintentionally drove us by the famous block-long Os Gemeos, Blu, Sam3, Ericailane, and Lucy Mclauchlan mural. I told the taxi driver that I was in town to take pictures of art in the streets and, after a slight translation struggle, he mentioned I should find one street where a group of artists painted a series of murals about the local government administration which I later found out was one of the famous Vhils collaborations that I’d planned on seeing. 
As with any vacation, planning your means of transportation is key. My friends and I soon realized, Lisbon is not quite as pedestrian friendly as other cities, mainly because of the topography and many hills. So, for your personal street art tour, I suggest using public transit or taxis to get to most of these locations. One of the first spots we went to was the harbor area for the Pixel Pancho and Vhils collaborations. After that, with intentions to continue our exploration, we went to the Belem Tower and a How & Nosm mural. 
The next day, we decided to take a taxi to the area where I had located some C215 work. The taxi driver asked why we were going to that location/area, and I explained, as best I could, that I was writing a blog about art in the street. Once we arrived at the location we asked him if he wanted to come with us to see the art. We, perhaps our driver in particular, were all incredibly impressed with the C215 mural. He said he’d bring driving in town for 25 years and had never been on that street or never seen the artwork.
That evening we took a ferry over to Almada with a great view of the 25 de Abril Bridge (the same architect who designed the Golden Gate Bridge. 
You can walk up the coast toward the bridge and there are two small restaurants that make for a perfect sunset meal or drink. The waterfront is covered with graffiti and is a good representation of the art in the area. I don’t normally give travel suggestions aside from street art but I have to recommend taking a trip up to the castles in Sintra once you’ve finished your street art tour. It’s a 30-minute train ride from the center of Lisbon and it is worth every minute. The castles are breathtaking and definitely should not be missed. 
Sintra, including the train ride, was one of the highlights of our entire stay. The train ride gave me an opportunity to see all the trackside graffiti that is quite common in Europe that I otherwise would have missed. I’ve come to learn, highway and train-track graffiti are very common, much different than what we are accustomed to in the US.
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MOCA’S “ART IN THE STREETS”
MOCA’s “Art in the Streets” is generating controversy on the theme of art and crime: Should a museum “glorify” criminal activity? It’s not entirely academic. At least one artist in the show, the French-born Invader, has apparently been placing his trademark video-game mosaics in downtown L.A. For the record, that’s nothing new. Long before the MOCA show, the well-travelled Invader placed mosaics on the Hollywood Sign and Randy’s Donuts (left).
Practically all of the artists in the MOCA show have tagged or otherwise ignored property rights, and many still do. On the other hand, the only illegally created works in the show would seem to be a few Keith Haring subway drawings—which New Yorkers, who know from graffiti, mostly adored. Many Haring drawings were peeled from subway walls by collectors illegally, and preserved as art. That’s probably how they ended up at MOCA.
The MOCA show doesn’t take a position on the ethics of using someone else’s property for art. Which is what most critics are faulting it for. Among those critics, journalist Heather Mac Donald, in the City Journal, condems the “conscience-less amorality of “Art in the Streets”.” She goes on to call everyone in the show a “graffiti vandal” and notes, “many photos feature vandalized property.“
Art shows aren’t generally in the business of offering legal advice and moral guidance. How many El Greco shows take a “position” on the Spanish Inquisition? That doesn’t mean that the curators are secret Spanish Inquisition sympathizers. It just means that they’re chronicling art history the way it happened, not the way we wish it had happened.
The Los Angeles Times interviewed former LAPD Chief William J. Bratton stating, “If you want to be an artist, buy a canvas.”
MOCA representatives have defended this initiative explaining, “We want to put out an inspirational message: If you harness your talent you can be in a museum someday, make a contribution and a living from it.”
To me, street art is a very democratic form of art. If it’s considered “garbage” then someone’s going to paint over it quickly but if it’s a “masterpiece” then no-one would dream of painting over it. MOCA, to me, is simply just acclimating to the times and preserving what might otherwise be destroyed by governments. So much goes into making a piece of street art. Yet its transient nature puts it at risk of being scrubbed out and lost forever. This is today’s art. This is our generation’s art and deserves to be honored and exhibited.
MOCA San Diego’s Hugh Davies, who did a Shepard Fairey show, is less upbeat but takes a similarly economic perspective:
“There’s an anarchic culture that doesn’t want to go through the chain of going to art school, [then getting into a] gallery and museum. It’s like, ‘I want to do it in my own way, I’m not in it for the market.’“
I think that idea is something to be celebrated, not condemned. Critics can say whatever they please, street art is art just like any other. It is self expression, it is the pulse of our generation and should not be synonymous with crime or any other derogatory term. Nor should MOCA be shamed for deciding to give it the platform it so rightfully deserves.
Guide to Street Art in New York City
“In the wake of the global growth of interest in art in the streets, one form of tourism that may soon be blowing up could be graffiti excursions, street art sightseeing, [and] mural journeying,” Brooklyn street artists Jaime Rojo and Steven Harrington recently stated.
If you are one of the many street art and graffiti enthusiasts who couldn’t imagine a vacation without galavanting around alleyways and buildings, searching for that great piece of urban art, I have the perfect map for you. I’ve compiled a list of my, as well as my family and friends’, favorite street art masterpieces in New York City from the Bronx to Coney Island and created a guide for exploring street art in New York City:
First, Brooklyn! The “mecca” of street art in New York and home of hundreds of up-and-coming street artists today.
1. Coney Island’s Os Gemeos Mural: Check out this locale for a dose of Os Gemeos, the Brazilian twins who’ve been in the street art game since the 1980s. (Location: Stillwell Avenue across the street from the subway station)
1. Red Hook’s Swoon Mural: If you love the wheatepastes of Caledonia Dance Curry, aka Swoon, this spot is for you. (Location: Pioneer Street and Conover Street)
3. DUMBO Walls: Big names like CAM, DALeast, Eltono, Shepard Fairey, Faith47, MOMO, Stefan Sagmeister, and Yuko Shimizu populate the DUMBO Walls, a stretch of eight murals sponsored by DUMBO Improvement District and Two Trees Management Co, along with the New York City Department of Transportation Urban Art Program (NYCDOT) and the Jonathan LeVine Gallery. (Location: Multiple locations, see them all here)
D. Bushwick Collective: Bushwick is generally a great place for street art tourism. But the best place to start is the Bushwick Collective, a self-described outdoor street art gallery of artists from around the world. (Location: Troutman Street at Saint Nicholas Avenue)
E. Moore Street: After taking in the beauty of Troutman Street, head a few blocks away to Moore Street for more Bushwick graffiti. (Location: Moore Street between Seigel Street and White Street)
The Bronx
1. Hunt’s Point: This 200-foot long mural is run by TATS CRU. This is a must-see mecca. (Location: Spofford Avenue & Drake Street)
2. Tuff City: This tattoo parlor is a popular spot for taggers. Like the traditional tattoo work done inside, the designs tend to veer into traditional graffiti as well. (Location: 650 Fordham Road)
Manhattan
1. L’asso: Grab a slice and see some street art. This pizzeria is graffiti-friendly. (Location: 192 Mott Street)
2. Freeman Alley: Another alley, another place to see street art. The walls beg for tags, and then you can grab a cocktail at Freemans Restaurant. It’s a win-win. (Location: 8 Rivington Street)
3. Centre-Fuge Public Art Project: This is a rotating outdoor gallery at the corner of 1st and 1st. What more could you want? (Location: 1st Street and 1st Avenue)
4. Houston Bowery Wall: From Keith Haring (above) to Maya Hayuk, this wall is a constantly changing canvas. (Location: East Houston Street and Bowery)
Queens:
1. Welling Court Murals: Murals stretch for blocks and blocks here. Without 5 Pointz, that no longer exists, this is the place to see street art in Queens. (Location: Start at 30th Avenue and Welling Court)
In my opinion, aside from more obvious landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, street art is a must-see if you want to capture the true, modern, heartbeat of the people of New York and the state itself.
Exit Through the Gift Shop
It’d be impossible, or mindless to have a blog or even interest about Street Art and not know about “Exit Through the Gift Shop”. “Exit Through the Gift Shop” was released in January 2010 and is an excellent documentary shadowing famous street artist “Banksy” and his many works. It is described as “modern art and celebrity put under the microscope.” A fundamental concept in beginning to understand street art and its culture.
“Exit Through the Gift Shop” offers an interesting perspective on the popularity of street art while examining the public’s interpretations of what modern art exactly is. The film follows the life of Thierry Guetta, an eccentric immigrant who develops a love for filming street artists. At the beginning of the film, Thierry is represented as sort of an odd, yet legitimate and successful business man. This original perception comes increasingly under question from the audience as they witness Thierry’s peculiar actions in what appears to be good-natured, kind of, incompetence.
The first half of the documentary is largely based around the underground culture of street artists, and the meaning and passion behind their work. It repeatedly mentions that it “needs to be captured” as it is commonly removed; an act displayed several times throughout the film. The film does a good job at examining the motivations behind street art in order to tear down the perception that it is largely just vandalism. Shots of events from Thierry’s life develop an emotional connection between him the viewer, which helps to legitimize what are essentially thought of as crimes.
The second half of the movie revolves around Thierry’s final spiral into an “artist” himself. Many characters begin dropping the subtlety act about Thierry’s odd persona, going as far as directly calling him incompetent, crazy, etc. It’s in stark contrast to the beginning of the film, and underscores what I believe is a completely different message entirely. What is art, and who defines what good art is? The contrast between Thierry’s humorously awkward splattering of paint and Banksy’s politically-charged works is apparent.
As the end nears, it really seems that the documentary is challenging public perceptions of art and the “art scene.” Thierry makes millions of dollars (entirely from the works of others and in spite of himself) simply by offering eccentric commentary on “his” creations to pretentious onlookers. Even Thierry’s adopted name, “Mr. Brainwash,” seems like a subtle remark on the events. The real artists featured earlier in the movie openly question the “idiots” who bought into the whole ordeal. It seemed as if everything up to that point had been a satirical commentary on the state of modern, publicly acceptable “art” in contrast to “real” art on the streets. It’s subtle and is never explicitly stated, but that’s also what makes it effective.
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