Street Art Chile

Chile has a long tradition of street art. During the Salvador Allende era mural art collectives such as Ramona Parra Brigade were born from the political fervour at the time. During Pinochet's military dictatorship street art remained part of the counterculture that promoted the resistance to the regime. Since Pinochet's removal in 1990, the Ramona Parra Brigade has redoubled its activities, and since the late 1990s there has been an anarchic proliferation of street art.

Today, post-Pinochet Chile is at the frontline of Latin American cultural politics. Liberal and radical-minded people, and especially street artists, are making up for lost time by creating extraordinary cutting-edge art. Art historian and photographer Rod Palmer has recorded examples of street art from all over the country, and in particular in Valparaíso, one of Latin America's most vibrant urban areas where street art is encouraged by the experimental space "espacio g" (2005-) and the cosmopolitan "MIRAQUI" initiative launched there in March 2007. The examples brought together in this book offer insights into contemporary Chile as it emerges from its traumatic political past into the 21^st century. Much in the same way as Spain witnessed a boom in its arts after the Franco era, Chile too is embracing an era of new freedoms and new possibilities expressed in some of most original street art - paintings, posters, stickers, murals, stencils and graffiti - in the world. Young Chilean artists such as Bomber West, Pussy Soulfood, Charqui Punk, and Vasko, are informed by European and North American art and music, including Surrealism, Picasso, Banksy, punk, reggae and hip hop, but they bring a Chilean slant to their art.

The book presents works by many different artists from throughout Chile and includes a revealing introduction about the history of Chilean street art since the 1940s. It also includes translations of the Spanish graffiti, a glossary of Chilean street slang and manifestos by leading artists.