The really cool thing about hunting down the public commissions on the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego's site locations map is that, as you turn a blind corner or approach a building, you are, for the first time, consciously looking for art. All graffiti suddenly jumps out at you from wooden fences or dirty stucco. Familiar buildings now seem to contain secret scavenger hunt clues. You watch dark fuzziness from a distance turn into a vital piece of work from a famous street artist, or merely clarify into the shadows of tree boughs. Exiting MCASD's tour de force, "VIVA LA REVOLUCION," in their downtown Jacobs Building, map in hand, you find first the Vhils piece on a wall and smile with your newfound street art knowledge. But by the time you reach 16th, you are thinking about placement the way a street artist does.
To a San Diegan, our sleepy, small town "big city" is about familiarity: knowing where places are without paying real attention to hard directions. Knowing landmarks and cardinal directions, knowing general areas, not being able to direct a stranger somewhere--it's all part and parcel to the casual lifestyle we enjoy in this beautiful city by the sea. But thanks to "VIVA LA REVOLUCION," suddenly there are new landmarks throughout the metro area. A presence of famous art now available for free public consumption. And you hunt them, experiencing the city with an alert mind rather than the casual manner we do everything else here.
"VIVA LA REVOLUCION" is an enormous artistic gift to San Diego, and yet, San Diego makes it possible. We keep a rather pristine city, so street art is still relatively noticeable. We glance it on walls, and double-take. Usually we move on, not feeling we are supposed to be seeing anything relevant to ourselves. Street artists play on that filtration process. Context is immediate in "VIVA." Guest Curator Pedro Alonzo, drawing upon Shepard Fairey's favoritism of the important work of Basquiat and Keith Haring, informs us that these two artists adopted the "style and systems of the streets." The exhibition brings together 20 international artists from 10 countries, who appropriate cities' physical elements, icons and signage to create profound socially-conscious work in a lowbrow visual dynamism.
