Tag: Street Art Valparaiso.

Valparaiso Open Air Art II~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, EXTERIOR & INTERIOR DESIGN, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS200 Comments

The city of Valparaiso Chile is full of over a thousand large scale open air art murals, some like the one above, cover the walls of multi-story buildings.

The first murals were painted by art students from a local university in the 1960’s and 70’s, in an area of the city called Cerro Bellavista.

This area is now a landmark named El Museo a Cielo Abierto (The Open Air Museum).

Valparaiso in entirety was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003.

Walking in this city wide open air art museum, one is struck not only by the talent of the amazing artists,

but also by their appreciation of the beauty,

joy, and humor of life.

To this day, artists are continuing to add their talented contributions to this remarkable city.

Valparaiso is a magnet attracting artists of all kinds. Their artistry makes visiting here a pure joy.

Cheers to you from beautiful Valparaiso and her amazing artists~

Valparaiso Open Air Art~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, EXTERIOR & INTERIOR DESIGN, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS221 Comments

There are hundreds of wall sized open air painted murals all over Valparaiso.

Click to enlarge this photo to see how the artist recycled plastic soda bottles to create living window planters for her imaginary town and writes about the need to creatively recycle plastics .

The talent and creativity of these artists blows me away.

In this hostel, I zoomed in on the art around the doorway in the photos below, so you can see the detail.

What strikes me is how talented these artists are,

and how many of them will remain unrecognized.

It is often luck that makes one famous, and another unknown.

In a fairer world, all these artists would be recognized for the true talent they have.

Valparaiso is full of gifted artists, but it also has so many poor people, and the largest slums in Chile.

The unfair fact this illustrates is that talent and poverty often reside together.

Please note: I am traveling by sea now and have limited access to internet. I will check in when possible but please excuse my inability to be responsive online.

Cheers to you from the talented artists of Valparaiso~

Café del Pintor~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, EXTERIOR & INTERIOR DESIGN, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS220 Comments

Wow! The everywhere art in Valparaiso Chile exceeds it’s reputation for being arguably the best street art in the world.

There is so much amazing talent to share with you, but let’s start here, this is the front door of the ‘Café of the Artist,’ painted by a male Chilean art student depicting everyday scenes from the town of Valparaiso.

The waiter explained to me that the art in this restaurant was painted by two art students, one a French female whose mind boggling talent you are looking at now. (Please click to enlarge).

Since internet is slow, I can’t look these artists up, but I will when I can.

Maybe you can find out for me?

All I know is pure talent when I see it.

The first two paintings of the café sign and the entry door were done by the Chilean student, and are depictions of Valparaiso, as is the one above.

Here is another mural focusing on culture and heritage.

I didn’t take photos of the food which is a shame because I was too distracted by the art, but the food was ethereal. If you come to Valparaiso, eat here and bring your camera.

Cheers from Valparaiso, the city of living art and excellent food~