Street art in Bogota: Graffiti or Artists without an Outlet?

So, like most big cities, there is quite a bit of graffiti in Bogota.  In fact, pretty much every building is covered in it.  What surprises me about the graffiti in Bogota is that much of it is artwork.  Some of the street artists are commissioned by the building’s owner to spray paint images on the store fronts, and some is simply beautiful vandalism.  But when I see vandals spray painting beautiful murals, my reaction is not anger.

 

 

What I see is a budding artist community that is just pining for opportunities to show off their work.

 

Indeed, much of the work is beautiful, but there are also many political messages as well.

 

And, some of it is just plain funny.