Buenos Aires Graffiti...is it art?

Last fall, I visited for the first time Buenos Aires. The city of music, dance, political passion, contrasts...referred to as Paris of South America.

While I would argue that there is no comparison to Paris, I fell head over heals for the city... It was love at first sight. I embraced it all, the decrepit beauty of a once glamorous past, the heat, the smells, the gardens, the people, their elegance and fun loving attitude.

This post, however is not about Buenos aires, that post will follow. This is about the extraordinary graffiti painted on the street walls of Buenos Aires, especially in La Boca. La Boca district is geared to tourism with its bright houses, tango dancers and is a fun animated area. Being told by my taxi driver, not to venture inside the district but to stick to the open plaza, I was of course, intrigued to do just the opposite. After passing a few houses, I felt I entered a no man's land. You could feel the vibes of desolation, a couple of women stopped my husband and I and warned us not to walk any further as it was extremely dangerous with thieves and criminals abound. What I saw startled me, the most amazing graffiti in vivid color. I was enthralled by their composition and their message.

Looking at some contemporary artists (which i will not mention as I would never want to compromise the respected value of their art), there is such a fine line between the artistry of the street artist, often angry, abused, hungry and the picture hanging on the walls of the world's most important museums.

Entrance to the rough part of La Boca

The furniture design world also embraces the graffitis artform as  illustrated below.

 Indeed, for my new Amara furniture collection event (on October 7th) I am planning to paint a mural with primitive african patterns.

AD#87 Campana sofa, Edra

AD#87 Armchair designed by Franco Albibi and Franca Helg for Cassina

AD #87 sofa designed by Ron Arad for Moroso

AD#87 sofa Sebastobal , Mise en Demeures France

AD # 87 Design by Gaetano Pesce, B and B Italia

For us living in New York, we are quite familiar with the graffitis covering walls, bridges, tunnels..Some young artists at heart endanger their lives by spray painting on gravity defying  spots, especially on bridges...we see it all, rude graffiti, gangs marking their territories, and the occasional surreal beautiful and artistic graffiti. How do you feel about graffiti? do you view them as destruction of public properties or as a scream for help, as an expression of one's deep feeling and artistry?