San Cristobal: graffiti

I hadn't really noticed the graffiti that adorns many of the barrio walls until Sunday. As I walked through Barrio Guadalupe the sheer amount of it was staggering. So I started to take photos, in fact I took so many I eventually had to stop, there was just too much.

Working off little knowledge, I would place the graffiti in three broad categories: (1) tags; (2) stencil and (3) political statements (those that are sprayed out by hand and not stenciled, so, not mutually exclusive from #2, stencils are generally political as well--but then what isn't??).


A lot of the stencils are Banksy-esque (the cat 'Liberate' trio in particular, below) and I know that he has been in San Cristobal, but I don't think it was very recently.

That said, I saw very little evidence of buffing (cover-up) and higher incidences of graffiti as I moved out from the historic center. This piece is dated 2006:

 

And, my personal favorite:

"Monsanto: Is not a Saint"