Street Art in Valencia: Escif

Just in case you think the only art in Valencia are fallas, I'll mention another very different kind of art you can find on the streets of Valencia during Fallas: street art. Thanks in large part to one incredibly talented, very witty, and oh-so-cool Valencian street artist, Escif (no, not the European Spinal Cord Injury Federation), Valencia is experiencing something of a Renaissance in street art.

Before I begin my love-fest over Escif's art, I should first say that there is a lot of good street art around central Valencia which I imagine, suppose, or suspect is actual by other equally talented artists. Not being an expert myself in differentiating the subtleties of their different styles and works, I hope you (and they) will forgive me for putting here some other works that I've run across around town but couldn't say who their maker is… 

You can find this amazing little building just off the Plaça de Tossal in El Carmen.

Saw this mural on Carrer de Quart.

Not far from one of my favorite Escif murals (paella, shown below), this
funny mural shows the meat repentance of Lisa Simpson.

Though to my untrained eye it kinda looks like Escif,
I don't think this is by him. This mural appeared in the same spot
as this next one shown below used to be.

I took this a while ago and I think it's no longer there. Apparently
 it's by Valencian street artist Hyuro. I'm mostly certain this was opposite
the Santa Catalina church in a plaza not far from Plaza de la Reina.

Dear street artists, please forgive me my ignorance. I love your work, but don't have time to follow it closely enough to do it full justice in a blog entry. Please feel free to post comments and clarifications to the further enrichment of me and all my readers. (Thank yous so far: Escrito en la Pared)

Fairey with copies of his most famous work, "Hope".

In case you have been living under a rock were unaware, in the last twenty years there has been a revolution in street art. It is no longer just teenage delinquents graffiti tagging their code names on empty shop or metro stop walls. There is a new class of artists who have sought to elevate graffiti to the level of an art and, for some, a social message about modern living. My personal favorite street artist (that is, before I discovered Escif) was Shepard Fairey and his Obey Giant project, made famous by his Obama "Hope" poster. Recently, the most (in)famous of street artists is probably Banksy, the subject of various highly publicized stunts, an alleged street artist war, and an interesting documentary (Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)) that itself generated some controversy. This kind of grandstanding and flamboyant egotism seems to be a trade weakness, but you can kind of forgive them… not only because their art works are often incredible and brilliantly provocative. But also because graffiti art can be so transient, add it to that class of "art ephemera", given the nature of their canvases ("private property") and less-than-pleased officials or building owners who often quickly cover them up with wall paint. Public recognition is pretty much these artists' only coin, and while not all deserve recognition, those who do _really_ deserve it.

I snapped this photo of a Shepard Fairey Obey "product" on a billboard a few years
ago in the North End of Boston. Look carefully throughout the US, they're all over the place.

Which brings us to Escif. I can't say I know a lot about him (or is it her?) beyond what I've gleaned from all the other gushing fans slash bloggers who've discovered his work. ("Escif… so hot right now… Escif.") He got started back in 1997, though probably didn't really get going until the early 2000s. He currently seems to be on some kind of international tour, since his works are popping up in cities around the world, including Brazil. I first learned about Escif from Hola Valencia back in 2009 right around when I returned to Valencia. Other bloggers and art-savvy writers periodically mention him, always impressed by his keen sense of visual irony. The very cool Spanish blog Escrito en la pared ("written on the wall") first took notice of some of his work in 2009, and then did a follow-up post on him in 2010. The online magazine Complex has covered his recent street murals in Spain as well as some excellent entries he did spoofing the collapse of the euro for the 2011 Fame Festival in Italy. The Nuart Street Art Festival's blog has posted visual updates on his work. In an interview for the Unurth Street Art website, Escif mentions some other Valencian street artists to keep an eye out for: "On_ly (as well with other members of XLF), [...] DOCS (Graffilia), and recently [...] Hyuro."

A video of Escif working a large sidewall of an abandoned building.
You can find more of his work video documented here.

So far as I know, Escif is not implicated in any of the grandstanding behavior or public scrutiny surrounding Banksy and Fairy. Indeed, by Escif's own admission his graffiti work (in contrast with more public exhibits by "graphics artists" like Shepard Fairey) could never become high art in the conventional gallery sense of the term: 

"What gets put in museums, galleries, magazines and press releases is not graffiti. Graffiti as a concept implies transgression of “public” space, and because of this its institutional adaptation ceases to have value. What makes graffiti graffiti is not its aesthetic qualities, nor the distress under which it was executed. What transforms graffiti into graffiti is precisely the conditions under which its engagement is made. A graffiti writer can exhibit his work in museums and galleries, but this does not transform his work into graffiti. Graffiti is on the street, in its natural condition, where it will die."

Still (or maybe because of this) his work is quite amazing and particularly brilliant in its thought-provoking provocation. When we are in an art gallery, we are in one frame of mind about what we expect to see. When you are walking through the windy alleys of a city, especially a rundown neighborhood, you are in another mindset. His art inhabits that second mindset, not seeking to be admired out-of-context or "on its own merits", but rather in a context where it is arguing with other street symbols and visual cues, maybe even annoying you.

You might recognize this from my recent Paella entry, this mural
can be found on Carrer de Baix in El Carmen. NOT ESCIF!
Escrito en la pared has informed me that this "Rabbit and Cock"
is by Erica il cane, who is now tied with Escif as one of my favorites!!!

For those of you who still might think such art is best lumped together with the other graffiti tag that gives urban spaces that run down negligent look, please think again. Escif provides a strong argument for such street art in a profile he provided for Textura, Valencia: Street Art (2009), a book that I'm still hoping I'll get as a present one of these days:

"I see graffiti as a necessary symptom of life in contemporary cities. A painted wall represents a way of using the city that is not thought about socially (though it becomes more so every day). It seems very interesting to me that people that live in a city do not settle for using it according to imposed rules; they invent new ways of utilizing it."

In some respects we are still recovering from a Modern movement, of quite simple and austere building facades. We look at dead Roman ruins and forget that those dull stone columns were often painted bright, vibrant colors. Escif and his peers are calling us (back) to a new, more vibrant urban future. A world where building walls are loaded with visual content that is constantly changing and constantly calling into question the fixedness of our surroundings and the authority of those surroundings' owners.

That Escif is home-grown in Valencia I consider a real "lujo" (luxury) of living in my adopted city, since his works add one more element of pleasant surprise as you wander the streets here. Scouting for Escif works in El Carmen, which is the highest density zone for his and others' graffiti artworks, has become a game for me that I highly recommend to all of you who live here, or who plan to visit. You never know when you're going to turn the corner of some alley you haven't been down before, and suddenly find one of his murals. (How many times have I beat myself up for not carrying the camera!)

Here is a selection of the photos I've taken over the last couple of years:

Two impressive murals located on Plaça de Tossal in the heart of El Carmen,
the one on the left clearly Escif, the one on the right showing Moses with "€"
and "$" Commandments in hand is by Italian street artist Blu.

This Escif piece, the people with ladder in the middle, was on Carrer de Baix in between
the Paella and Lisa Simpson ones shown above. According to Escrito en la Pared, the street artist "Blast"
is the author of the upside down headless man on the right.

Another Escif whose location right opposite of Valencia's main
Cathedral means it's likely you will see it if you are alert.

I saw this Escif on Calle de Roteros as I was walking east from
the Torres de Serranos into the heart of El Carmen.

I discovered this image by "Rosh" on Calle del Conde de Montornés (not far from the Fundación Bancaja)...

... followed closely by this mural...

... and this one, too ...

... and then I turned around and looked up, and discovered the massive mural
by Escif which you'll recognize from his video embedded above.

Please feel free to email me any photos that you've taken of Valencian street art, and if possible the location where you found it. I'll add them to this entry with periodic updates. Thanks!

________________ADDENDUM: THE VIEWER'S CHOICE________________

Escif murals harvested from Escrito en la Pared:

You might have seen this Escif painting opposite the San Martín church
on a small street in between Plaza de la Reina and Plaza del Ayuntamiento

This Escif is deep in the heart of Escif territory,
on Carrer de Quart in El Carmen

Thank yous to Gerry Blackwell for emailing me these beautiful additions for this post on Valencian street art:

Valencian mural found near the IVAM, photo by Gerry Blackwell

Valencian mural found near the IVAM, photo by Gerry Blackwell

Valencian mural found in El Carmen, photo by Gerry Blackwell

Series of Valencian murals located on or near Calle de Moro Zeit, photo by Gerry Blackwell

Side-angle shot on two incredible murals found in El Carmen
not far from Torres de Quart, photo by Gerry Blackwell

One of those murals shown just above, found in El Carmen
not far from Torres de Quart, photo by Gerry Blackwell

Chic Soufflé took this instagram in a small plaza not far from the Mercat Central,
and tweeted it on her account here.