Urban Jungle... Amsterdam

 

My regular followers know that I'm a fan of street art. Just take a look at my previous articles "Antwerp City of Art", "Urban Jungle Milan" and "Urban Jungle Havana"! After Antwerp, Milan and Havana, now it's Amsterdam's turn to shine.

Usually I love to discover a city by myself, this time however I went on a guided tour by Trip4Real. Our guide Alex lead us through the urban jungle of Amsterdam, telling us all about the history of street art. He actually wrote his college thesis about the "artification of street art". So he knows what he's doing!

While walking through the historical centre of Amsterdam, we learned all the right terms for the various art forms, such as stencil graffiti, sticker art, throw-ups etc., gaining some street cred at the same time.

It was great to see some of the vintage street art that has been there for ages! I must admit I hate to see historical buildings (for example from the Dutch Golden Age) being destroyed by paint and grafitti, but street art can be fun and respectful to the environment as well.

Alex pointed out some hidden gems, like the little alien mosaic by Space Invader. I also loved the lonely kid in "walking alone" by Iranian artists Icy and Sot. Another great piece of art by Icy and Sot is "rebellion", showing Iranian women protesting against oppression. They really make you think!

But when is something considered art? That's of course a very difficult and complicated question. What many people nowadays might consider a simple grafitti or even vandalism, might be considered "real art" in twenty or hundred years from now. Who knows, one of these street artists might be considered the next Leonardo da Vinci!

For more information about the street art tour, please visit:
http://www.trip4real.com

My previous articles about / including street art:
Antwerp http://tarasdolcevita.blogspot.nl/2015/02/antwerp-city-of-art.html
Havana http://tarasdolcevita.blogspot.nl/2012/10/urban-jungle-havana.html
Milan http://tarasdolcevita.blogspot.nl/2011/05/urban-jungle.html

Antwerp... City of Art!

In Antwerp... art is everywhere! From Gothic and Baroque churches to Art Déco and Neo Baroque buildings... And it's not "just" the architecture that draws your attention. It's graffiti and street art, it's fashion and it's fashionable people.

While I was in Antwerp for the "Inspirations" exhibition by Dries Van Noten, I also took a guided tour through the city. This so-called fashion walk took us through cute little side alleys, to delightful vintage stores (Rosier 41 among others) and to several fashion designers, including Anna Heylen. (The blue cocktail dress is hers.)

Guide Sophie took us to Saint Andrew's Church, to show us the dress Ann Demeulemeester designed for the Virgin Mary. Incredible! Baby Jesus got a curly wig along the way. What a forward-thinking priest to give Demeulemeester that assignment! (He wants to attract younger people to church.)

Another highlight was the visit we paid to glove store A. Boon. The only remaining glove shop in Antwerp was founded by two Italians in 1882. It was taken over by Arthur Boon in 1920 and has remained a family business ever since. The shopkeeper needed a "model" to try on the gloves, so I volunteered and got the royal treatment.

The perfect treat that I saved for the way home, was the "Boule de New York", also known as the Belgian version of the cronut... yummy! One more reason to visit Antwerp I would say.

Do you want to know more about Dries Van Noten's exhibition?
Please read my previous article here:
http://tarasdolcevita.blogspot.nl/2015/02/dries-van-noten-inspirations.html

For more information you can visit the following websites:
Dries Van Noten: http://www.driesvannoten.be
MoMu: http://www.momu.be/en.html
Ann Demeulenmeester: http://www.anndemeulemeester.be
Anna Heylen: http://www.annaheylen.be
A. Boon: http://www.glovesboon.be
Rosier 41: http://www.rosier41.be
Boule de New York: http://www.bouledenewyork.be
Visit Antwerpen: http://www.visitantwerpen.be
Visit Flanders: http://www.visitflanders.com

Urban Jungle... Havana

I'm usually not a big fan of grafitti, but sometimes you come accross beautiful wall paintings that I would consider art instead of vandalism. Like the grafitti shown here in Havana!
I love the bright colours and the fact that people have taken the effort to make these paintings, considering their poor living conditions. I can't even immagine where they got their (spray) paint from...

Photos taken at Callejon de Hamel & Barrio Chino, the Cuban equivalent of Chinatown.

Want to see more Urban Jungle? Please click here:
http://tarasdolcevita.blogspot.nl/2011/05/urban-jungle.html

Urban Jungle... Milan

While I was wandering through Milan, I came across these fun grafittis. I love the real plants right in the middle of the painted ones!