Photographer Lord K2 unveils new book ‘Street Art Santiago’

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The book is available in bookstores worldwide from July 2015. It encompasses a highly level of design, photography and extensive unfiltered interviews with the artists, who for a change were given a voice in hard media form.  
 
Santiago, with its deeply evolved and extremely active underground graffiti scene, bursts at the seams with an abundance of eye-popping, jaw-dropping murals. Stencil graffiti artist Lord K2 documents 14 neighborhoods within the capital of Chile with his arresting photography and intimate conversations with local artists. Through more than 200 images and 80 interviews, learn how street art was influenced by American, European, and Brazilian graffiti and how its evolution runs parallel to the political history of the nation itself. During the Cold War, nationalist muralist brigades spread socialist idealism through symbols of power and oppression. Santiago’s repressed lower classes gradually usurped the art form, and murals eventually became a weapon of resistance. This vibrant city, with its array of distinct cultural districts, now invites you to experience its fascinating and tightly knit artistic community that has flourished since the fall of Pinochet’s dictatorship in 1990.


Today in Santiago, thanks to graffiti and street art, there are real open-air museums and galleries, such as in the Bellavista neighborhood and the San Miguel commune, in La Cisterna, along the Avenida Santa Rosa, in Pedro Aguirre Cerda, in Independencia, and in Recoleta. 
Unfortunately, not everyone sees the value of this form of art. It is incredible how blind certain politicians and military leaders can be about the culture and education of Chile. In other Latin American countries, street art and muralism are publicly celebrated and even considered an attraction for tourists. But in Chile, there is a permanent tendency toward stigmatization and criminalization of the scene. 
The relationship between street art and contemporary art has also been troubled, as the latter is still an elitist scene reserved for certain social classes. But graffiti and street art have great potential to affect change: they can bring a breath of fresh air and permanent inspiration to the world of visual arts and they can democratize artistic action, opening the experience to all citizens, regardless of social class or education. With the accessibility of graffiti and street art, the schism between the artist and the public is demolished. Anyone can paint on the street; there is no need for a conventional education in the fine arts. 
The movement is becoming more and more organized with each passing day. Artists are forming collective groups and conducting expositions and conferences. Projects in which graffiti and street art unite with social work and various social movements are having a major impact. Today, urban art and other nonconventional movements targeting youth, such as hip hop, are starting to be seen as ways to learn that are parallel and complementary to the official educational system. For this reason, many of today’s artists provide workshops and guidance to children and teenagers in places where the State and the market have not been able to do so. 
To conclude, I would like to add a personal statement. Without a doubt, the graffiti scene and street art in Santiago reached maturity early on. By the end of the ’90s, some of the artists who currently represent Chilean graffiti around the world were already painting on the streets. Many of these artists grew up as part of a post-dictatorship generation when individualism was prioritized, and consequently, many were lost in struggles over ego and fame. This is why I believe the graffiti and street art scene in Santiago has big potential for the future. The new generations, the new school, are in charge of taking the movement a step up—to take it to a level of organization, linked to education, with the acceptance of popular art in the heart of Chilean society, beyond egos and territorial disputes.  Brian Gray (Chilean Anthropologist – featured in the book)


The design of this book is unrivaled by any other in the street art genre. Lord K2 spent 1 year with his team of graphic designers led by Jorge Cordoba composing the pages which are simply outstanding. 




“In recent years Chilean graffiti has come into the global spotlight with many artists and enthusiasts journeying to cities such as Valparaiso and Santiago  to discover what makes this particular corner of the street art world so visually exciting. Lord K2’s new book Street Art Santiago is a wonderful piece of documentary journalism, which explores the cities rich mural art history through its strong political tradition of Latin-American Muralism to the vibrant street art movement in action today. This documentation is made particularly rewarding by the interviews given by the artists who share their lives, ideas and working methods in an intimate social and cultural record. Through the artists voices the book becomes an enlightening and often exhilarating journey that delivers an honest and powerful understanding of the processes and culture of street art. Above all the images from the barrios speak for themselves. Santiago is a city influx – ancient facades meet new developments and abandoned buildings shelter layer upon layer of murals, reflecting the life of the city in a unique way – making it an irresistible visual feast and an essential street art destination.” Tristan Manco




To see more of Lord K’2 work and for more information on his upcoming projects and books check out www.lordk2.com
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