Street Art: Evolution of the Madrid Abierto International Competition in the Period 2004-2007

Abstract

Focusing on the postmodern period, one of the most notable phenomena in any self-respecting European capital is the occupation of the street or public square as a temporary exhibition space or as an artistically intervened environment. As a result, that urban location changes its habitual function and appearance, giving rise at certain moments to aesthetic interrelations and communications among the artist, the work together with the occupied space, and the citizen — the latter being a fundamental element, since these types of manifestations are directed at him. For this recent period, with some partial studies already completed and others in progress, critical distance still needs to be established. Nevertheless, its incorporation into the research project is essential in order to achieve a perspective of continuity: historical evolution, the transformations generated, and the formal, aesthetic, and communicative interrelations between Art and City. The subject of study for these First Symposium proceedings is delimited to the event "Madrid Abierto", founded in 2004. First, a set of parameters is established for its study, applicable to the full range of works in this field, whether in Madrid itself or in another European city. Second, a selection of significant examples, limited to a specific area, is presented to illustrate the direction this research is taking.