Urban art is here to stay. Society is increasingly inclined to admit this form of artistic expression, albeit within guidelines. Differentiating street art from vandalism is still a tricky subject that generates discrepancies. However, there are more and more urban spaces set up to receive the proposals of these spray masters and clean walls left at their disposal, ready to receive a layer of creative paint. This trend contributes to give identity to the neighbourhoods, to generate movement around art and to revitalise more quiet areas that in this way, charge energy.

Walls of Tabacalera en 2016 (©Daniel Mesa, via madriddiferente.com)

The Muros-Tabacalera initiative responds to these ideas, a project that is now in its third edition and that Promoción del Arte launched in 2014 to recover the walls of the perimeter of Tabacalera, in Lavapiés. In May of that year, a contest was opened to receive proposals from the artists and to paint the walls of the old tobacco factory. 2014 was an open proposal, without a defined theme, in which 32 artists linked in some way with the Madrid urban scene and with the neighbourhood participated.

Mural 2019, by Kenor (via madridstreetartproject)

In 2016, 25 new artists gave new life to the walls of the Glorieta de Embajadores and the streets Miguel Servet and Mesón de Paredes, with works inspired by the title Urban Natures. Under this topic, the idea was to create pieces that explore the distance of the natural environment that comes across the big cities and invite to reflect on this disconnection of contemporary society, covering the grey walls with colourful and dynamic works.

Mural 2019, by Srger (via madridstreetartproject)

For this new edition of 2019, the topic is Azar (chance). 25 artists will put their imagination and sprays at the service of this evocative title. The participating artists in this third edition are 108, Amaia Arrazola, Ampparito, Anna Taratiel, An Wei, BYG, Boa Mistura, Liquefied Collective, Dafne Tree, Eltono, Gviiie, Iñigo Sesma, Kenor, Manolo Mesa, Mario Mankey, Maz, Nemo's , NSN997, Null, Wigs, Sara Fratini, Son3k, Spogo, Srger and Yksuhc Juan.

Mural 2019, by NSN997 (via madridstreetartproject)

With initiatives like this, urban art gradually gains a niche in the cities and conquers the hearts of the neighbours. In fact, the murals have become an important attraction for tourism, and this has also had its consequences for the day to day of the neighbourhoods, which see how the cost of living raises by the power of attraction of this type of interventions. What is clear is that the graffiti has come to stay and has gradually made its way into the walls of the city.

In the year 2020 in the heart of Barcelona a wandering gallery was born, the same one that in February 2021 would debut at Art Madrid with an exhibition proposal focused on contemporary portraits; with this subject matter it would manage to create a powerful dialogue between artwork and audience and make the seal Inéditad remain in the history of the event that contained it.

Jean Carlos Puerto. Protección. Oil and copper leaf on wood. 60 x 48. 2021. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Since that first time and until today, the wandering gallery has managed to build projects on otherness, has repositioned in the spotlight the discourses on the LGTBIQ+ collective, has consolidated a group of artists who share its principles of resilience and empathy and the best thing is that it continues to bet from the professionalism and commitment to give voice to the difference.

Claudio Petit-Laurent.. El Joven de la Perla. Oil on wood. 30 x 30 cm. 2023. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Inéditad Gallery, thanks to its founder Luis López, its collaborators and the infinite possibilities manifested in the works of the artists it represents, is a gallery that has demonstrated its capacity and courage to stimulate the sensibility of the public through art and seduce a generation that moves between the glass window and the analogical story. Inéditad is a nomadic gallery that has gathered around it a community of artists and has moved the context with exhibition projects that think about LGTBIQ+ art without prejudices.

Pepa Salas Vilar. Las marcas del arcoiris. Oil on canvas. 40 x 50 cm. 2022. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Pride and Prejudice was inaugurated. An exhibition that brings together the works of sixteen artists: Abel Carrillo, Alex Domènech, Carlos Enfedaque, Silvia Flechoso, Jamalajama, Daniel Jaén, Claudio Petit-Laurent, Jean Carlos Puerto, Fernando Romero, Pablo Rodríguez, Pepa Salas Vilar, Jack Smith, Pablo Sola, Bran Sólo, Elia Tomás and Utürüo. Painting, illustration, photography and digital art are the manifestations that bring into dialogue around fifty neatly threaded pieces, in a discursive line that discusses such a latent phenomenon as discrimination. To achieve this, the artists invited to the exhibition question themselves whether: Does discrimination exist within the LGTBIQ+ collective?

Pride and Prejudice Official Poster. Image courtesy of the gallery.

With approaches on and from the body, the proposal invites to celebrate diversity, proposes to question and self-question the prejudices and attitudes of society against the collective. Pride and Prejudice is a space for dialogue about the constructs imposed on us by society. It is also an oasis in which to deconstruct with tolerance and respect the subjectivities that sometimes prevent us from approaching the production of the participating artists, simply because "the beautiful" does not fit in an androgynous body. The subjugation of stereotypes are pressed with determination to find the beauty of diversity in other palpable facets of reality.

Pablo Sola. All men are dogs. Photography. 2014. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Throughout these three years Inéditad has stimulated the vindictive projection towards bad practices, has questioned estates around the LGTBIQ+ body and the most admirable thing, is that these capacities have resurfaced around the dialogue and the visual narrative of the stories that are told from the visual: Artworks that are people, art that is, per se, humanity. Overcome impositions and accept what is different in order to continue fighting against homophobia, biphobia, lesbophobia or transphobia and defend the equal rights that all the acronyms of the collective deserve in our community.

That's Pride and Prejudice: One creature, the happiest in the world. And maybe other projects and other people have said it - or felt it - before, but none so fairly.

Silvia Flechoso. Hola, soy maricón. Oil on canvas. 73 x 54 cm. 2023. Image courtesy of the gallery.

From June 8th until June 22nd you can visit Pride and Prejudice. Carrer de Palau núm. 4. Canal Gallery space. Barcelona.