La Modelo Murales, #19. Barcelona, 2018
I blogged about this now-closed and historic prison, La Modelo, some time ago. For background, you might want to take a look at that post from November 24, 2017: La Model (La Modelo) Prison, Barcelona.
Apparently, you can still get inside the slightly crumbling edifice for a visit–free if you go on Friday between 1500 and 1800 hours, or Saturday between 1000 and 1800 hours. See the website (in Catalan) for details. It’s a treat to see a 100+-year old jail, so I’d jump on it if you are in town as they will eventually be renovating the building at some point and public access will be terminated.
In its time, it exemplified the ultimate in prison science, thus “The Model”.
But…on to todays subject: the murals
Outside, the aging prison walls have sprouted a number of murals. Many, it appears, are attempts to persuade the authorities that La Modelo should be repurposed for the benefit of the locals–maybe as a youth center, or community center of some kind. With a little Googling, I discovered:
–The murals were painted during the fifth annual festival organized by Ús Barcelona–the last such festival, apparently. These festivals included artistic instalations, film, conferences, workshops, music, urban art, art markets, and cultural tours.
–The artists involved at La Modelo: Paula Bonet (Spain), Matu (Chile), Elisa Capdevila (Spain), Twee Muizen (Spain), Ghizlane Agzenai (Morocco), Kevin Ledo (Canada), Ampparito (Spain), Perrine Honoré (France), and ByG (Spain).
For documentary purposes, here is how the street murals appeared on December 6th…
“We fight for housing rights…Neighbors [locals] stay in the neighborhood…”. A plea to keep local barrios intact and to avoid uncontrolled gentrification, it would seem.
La Modelo Murales, #1. Barcelona, 2018
The smaller graffiti on the column says, “Close ALL the prisons”. The mural on the left, by Paula Bonet, is a commentary on the difficult choices faced by pregnant women living in a patriarchal world. Also, historically, prisons–much like La Modelo–were the first places where babies were robbed from their mothers or simply left uncared for (a theme common to both Spain’s Civil War and Argentina’s Dirty War, for example).
La Modelo Murales, #2. Barcelona, 2018
“Don’t cry, you will be happy…”. Uncovered by anthropologist Dra. Neus Roig, this is a fragment from a letter by an anonymous mother who had painfully chosen (chosen?) to give up her baby for adoption.
La Modelo Murales, #3. Barcelona, 2018
One of the old guard towers pushes for public housing. The small stencil basically says, “Make La Model OUR space”. (La Modelo in Spanish/Castellano, La Model in Catalan).
La Modelo Murales, #4. Barcelona, 2018
This one is by the happy French illustrator, Perrine Honoré.
La Modelo Murales, #6. Barcelona, 2018
Some synergy going on here.
La Modelo Murales, #5. Barcelona, 2018
I Googled around a bit trying to figure out the monkey mural and learn something about the artist, but couldn’t find anything. Can anyone fill me in? This is arguably the most interesting composition on the wall.
La Modelo Murales, #7. Barcelona, 2018
On the guard tower: “Space for the Young”. The mural on the left (of which only one panel is shown here) is by BYG, two urban artists from Valencia and Madrid who work together.
La Modelo Murales, #8. Barcelona, 2018
Here are BYG’s three panels in full.
La Modelo Murales, #9. Barcelona, 2018
Looks like a nice artificial climbing wall so folks can climb right on into the prison, right? Well, the holds are merely painted on, alas. This one is the work of Ampparito, a street artist who specializes in optical contusions, so to speak.
La Modelo Murales, #10. Barcelona, 2018
This colorful floral series is by “ee”, or Emily Eldridge. She is an artist from the USA but now lives in Barcelona.
La Modelo Murales, #11. Barcelona, 2018
And, turning the corner from Provença to Nicaragua street…
La Modelo Murales, #12. Barcelona, 2018
One last look down Carrer de Provença…
La Modelo Murales, #13. Barcelona, 2018
Perhaps the old prison could be used as a neighborhood sports venue of some kind?
La Modelo Murales, #14. Barcelona, 2018
Simple yet genius. Just “cut here” to open!
La Modelo Murales, #15. Barcelona, 2018
What to do with the prison? This guard tower basically says, “Let the community decide”.
La Modelo Murales, #16. Barcelona, 2018
This wasn’t exactly a mural. Instead, someone had pasted large posters of young people from the political left who have been killed by those on the political right or by police. From front to back: Miquel Grau (killed in 1977 by a thrown brick while putting up posters in Valencia), Lucrecia Pérez (a very recent immigrant to Spain, shot in a night club in 1992), Guillem Agulló (stabbed to death in 1993 by an extreme right wing group), Yolanda González (shot in 1980 by a militant right wing group), and Pedro Álvarez (in 1992, apparently shot by an off-duty policeman during an argument–but never proved and investigation never cleared up).
La Modelo Murales, #17. Barcelona, 2018
Kevin Ledo, from Montreal, Canada, is the artist responsible for the unusual and bright mural on the right.
La Modelo Murales, #18. Barcelona, 2018
Kevin’s complete three panels…
La Modelo Murales, #20. Barcelona, 2018
You might also like
Leave a reply