MORE ART OF THE PEOPLE

Graffiti or Street Art: Is there a Difference?

One of the things I love to photograph when I travel is the 'art' I see on the public buildings and walls. Which always brings me to ask myself--what is graffiti and what is street art, and is there a difference? In my home town, anything tagged, written, or drawn on public spaces without the consent of the owner is considered graffiti. Most of this is tagging by rival gangs who want to claim their territory and is usually removed by the owner soon after it appears.

Whereas, on Isla Mujeres I saw many examples of what I would call street art. That is, art created by an artist or group for the benefit of the people who live/work in the area. While styles and techniques vary from simple black and white line drawings to full color murals, it all caught my attention and made me stop and take notice. Here are some of my faves. 

Considering there is a Swim-With-the-Dolphins tourist attraction at the south end
of the island, this drawing may be a quiet political protest against that practice.

I don't know the meaning, but I love
the turquoise cat face on the yellow wall.

These two murals (above and below) appear on the front of a public building located next to the town square and tell a pictorial story of the island's Mayan history.

This colorful building is the streetside view
of a three story vacation rental unit.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, these two murals below (along with several others that I did not photograph) are part of a ground-breaking street art project called Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans. Last summer (2014) internationally renowned artists were invited to Isla Mujeres to paint large-scale public murals designed to raise awareness for the need to protect threatened whale sharks and oceanic manta rays. Had I known, I would have made a point to photograph all of them. I guess I'll just have to go back for a second visit!

A mural by Aaron Glasson and Yoh Nagao.

STREET ART

Feminine Rising

A mixed media collage of tile mosaic, paint and found objects caught my eye on this colorful wall along a side street in Isla Mujeres. With a closed door and no windows, it was hard to tell if this was a private residence or a members-only club. Definitely photo worthy.

SHADOWS on Isla Mujeres

“There is strong shadow where there is much light.”
 ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I Love Hearts

I have always had a 'thing' about hearts. Over the years I have collected an array of heart jewelry--necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings. I have heart throw pillows on my sofa, heart paintings and pictures hung on my walls, along with heart knickknacks of all sizes displayed on my shelves and tables. Outside I have heart stones, birdhouses and birdbaths throughout my garden. So when I travel, I am always on the lookout for hearts. I spied this baby blue heart tucked away on the side of a house along a side street in Isla Mujeres. 

Unfortunately, the first time I saw it I had used all the battery power in my cell phone camera, so I couldn't take a picture. But as luck would have it, I returned to Isla Mujeres the next day with my friends. After a day of tooling about the island in our rented golf cart, we were on our way to return the cart. Only, we weren't too sure where exactly that was. Obviously, we had been so excited to get on the road when we rented it that we failed to get directions how to get back. But since I had been to the island the day before, the back streets seemed vaguely familiar. And that is when I spotted the blue heart once again. TAP! TAP! TAP! I took several pictures along with one more of a nearby gate covered with American license plates. In particular the Michigan plate stood out as that is the state where my friends and I had lived many decades ago when we had first met in junior high school. And here we were on Isla Mujeres celebrating our 50+ years of friendship. You just gotta <3 it.