Do It Go

The term ‘culture jamming’ has become the phrase used when describing the ways that artists intervene with commercialism.  The band Negativland is credited for coining the phrase.  One of the local street artists in Barcelona has been ‘culture jamming’ for years.  Jorge Rodriguez Gerada a Cuban born painter has been living in the city and has been adding to the amazing street art scene in many ways, one of which includes the altering of billboards and other forms of public advertisements of Barcelona, Spain.  Hotel walls, and street signs have been painted over by Gerada in an attempt to parody the ads and to change the messages that are conveyed.  Gerada is known as one of founders of this art form, one of the most creative and skilled.

He has been creating a series throughout Barcelona called ‘The Identity Series‘  for almost seven years.  Beginning in 2002, Gerada put large scale charcoal drawings of people on the building walls in various locations throughout the city.  Charcoal will not stand up to the elements but this fact is all part of Gerada’s process and message.  His intention in creating these works that will be destroyed eventually by the wind and the rain, is to convey the message that memory and place are two important components in the establishment of identity.  He wants to question the control enforced through the use of public property.

He questions commercialism and brand name items, and the way in which these companies advertise their brands.  He states that everyone should question those who appear to be choosing the role models and the icons of culture, and to be aware of the manipulation of corporate companies.  He creates his works using models of everyday people.  His hopes being, that when an anonymous person becomes important, people will begin to become more empathetic and aware, that even though the image will fade the memory will remain.  His works are throughout the city in Spain and should be a part of every walking tour through the street galleries of Barcelona.

Related posts:

1. Expectation
2. The Botanical Garden of Barcelona
3. Gamble on Barcelona
4. Finding Work in Spain
5. Gawdy Gaudi in Barcelona

Tags: Barcelona, Culture Jamming, galleries, hotel, Identity Series, Spain, street artists

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 at 2:25 pm and is filed under Arts, Business, Entertainment, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.