MINI GUIDE TO STREET ART IN FLORENCE

MINI GUIDE TO STREET ART IN FLORENCE

Florence is known to everyone as the city in Italy, which is famous all over the world for being the birthplace of the Renaissance. This Tuscan city has been attracting visitors for centuries to admire the magnificent work of Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello, Botticelli, Brunelleschi, etc. The Florentines are very proud that the Renaissance was born in their city. Therefore, everything here is dedicated to this decisive period of European history. You could even say that Florence remained somewhat stuck in the Renaissance. Even today, this Italian city has a unique flair for art.


street art

In recent years, a new generation of artists has emerged, starting a new renaissance to bring art back to the people. The streets and walls of palaces are their “canvas”, and even the road signs are not safe. Urban Renaissance artists strive to make the city a little more colorful, to make you smile, and even try to make you think and of course inspire.

I also took to the streets to admire their work. Just walk through the cobbled streets of the historic center and I guarantee you will be amazed. Here, artists have covered walls, road signs and street lamps with works of street art. I understand that it is not easy to create street art in a city like Florence, where every street and square is full of historic buildings, groups of tourists or “merchants” trying to sell you cheap paintings, t-shirts and other souvenirs. However, I am of the opinion that “Street art, if it is good, is a gift to the city and its inhabitants”.

street art

Previously, the Renaissance addressed the rulers and messiahs of art, today, on the contrary, street artists force us to think outside the box and sometimes their works even share very strong social messages. Through various stencils or spray paint, artists communicate their emotions. You can find street art here in various forms. In one block you can find illegible graffiti, excerpts from Italian poetry, sculptures protruding from the wall, beautiful paintings of people of all shapes and colors and even cheeky stickers with links to various initiatives.

In short, Florence knows how to be a city that creates a dialogue between the art of the past and the future, and I would like to show you what I discovered during my wanderings through the streets of the historic center of Florence. Since I noticed several recurring motifs, I did some research to find out their meaning and the artists behind these works of art.

I have created a quick guide to Street Art for you, so that you can get acquainted with the most famous urban artists of Florence.


street art

CARLA BRUTTINI

One of the few women in the world of Italian street art is Carla Bruttini, known under the pseudonym Carla Bru. She is a well-known painter and exhibits her works in galleries and museums and now on the streets of Florence. The most famous work, which comes from her studio in the San Niccolò district, is the red-haired shaman, a powerful female symbol that can be found in various places in the city. I found it too.


street art

BLUB

So I secretly fell in love with this artist. I have to admit that I really like his work. Another mysterious Italian artist hides under the nickname Blub. His works are directly connected to the city where they are created.

Blub is an artist who mostly works in the streets of the historic center of Florence. However, I have also found his works in other Italian cities. With his project L’Arte sa nuotare (Art knows how to swim), he depicts famous works of art and figures mainly in blue, white and black. They are usually people who are related to the art world.

What makes them so unique? They all wear diving masks and are submerged underwater. Blub often uses metal gas and electricity meter doors, which he initially painted directly on, but now he sticks posters of his work on them because they are regularly removed. So I’d rather not tell you the streets where you can find them. It may happen that the work I saw today, you won’t find it there tomorrow. I also witnessed, when we were walking down the same street the next day, someone vandalizing his work overnight. Why? I really have no idea.


street art

EXIT/ENTER

This Florentine artist calls himself Exit/Enter. His works are spread all over Tuscany, but most are found here in Florence. The stylized men (line figures) usually hold a small red heart or sometimes a balloon on a very thin string that connects the man to our most important organ. He paints his figures in black.

His goal? To bring a few smiles, provoke viewers and stimulate the imagination. And believe me, with his minimalist drawings he will brighten your day or make you stop and think for a moment. In short, he wants to force you to question the meaning of life as we know it now. The artist’s star is rising outside of Italy, with his work being exhibited at the Street Art Museum in Amsterdam earlier this year.

I personally felt a strong meaning behind each of his pieces I came across, and I appreciated how each illustration was unique and different from the others and from any street art I had ever seen.


street art

CLET ABRAHAM

Florence is full of road signs that have been transformed by the creative spirit of Breton artist Clet Abraham. This street artist hails from France but has spent the last twenty years in Italy. His work is a bit different from what is usually perceived as street art. Florence, and in fact other cities in Tuscany, are a maze of one-way streets where road signs are essential. And road signs are among his creations.

Clet noticed that road signs are ubiquitous, and this idea led him to try to suppress the formal message of the sign and instead offer it from a new perspective, from a spiritual, intellectual and, most importantly, humorous point of view. The themes of his works vary from religious to those related to work ethics to topics that are just for fun.

The signs feature arrows that flow into hearts, lots of little figures, and a dead end road sign that has become a symbol of crucifixion. However, what sets Clet apart from other street and graffiti artists is one thing that needs to be emphasized: His stickers are non-toxic and can be easily removed from the signs.

Even though he was sometimes fined, he continued in the name of artistic freedom. It is even said that funny stickers mysteriously began to appear in the secret streets of Florence and it was soon revealed that it was Clet, who rode his bike around the city at night and decorated them.

You can even visit Cleto’s studio at Via Dell’Olmo 8r, where you can buy stickers and other fun items. In short, looking for Cleto’s signs can be a lot of fun, and if you’re here with kids, they might enjoy it more than visiting the gallery.

As you’ve probably noticed, I love street art. I love the incredibly colorful approach these artists take to life. So at times, my visit to Florence turned into walks where I tried to find new pieces every day. Each of these artists has their own unique style, and once you know what to look for, you start looking for them all over the city. I’ve been doing it for a few years now.

What about you? Do you also like Street Art or do you think it’s vandalism? I’d love to hear your opinion…

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