A man called Crisp: Australian street artist in Bogota

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Life in Bogota can be difficult for a foreigner, but with an optimistic outlook, a good dose of creativity, and a compassionate attitude towards working with locals, one graffiti artist has proven himself a success.

“You would think it [is] scary being a foreign street artist here, always looking over your shoulder for robbers or police, but in fact my experience has been quite the opposite,” said Bogota resident and street artist “Crisp” in his patented positive and engaging manner.

The Australian Crisp is in a minority in Bogota — a foreign artist who has chosen to live in Colombia for the key reason that graffiti is not illegal. Crisp lived in England during the rise of street art (2001 to 2010) when prolific artists such as Banksy garnered headlines, but Crisp decided to move to Colombia where he could practice his art freely without fear of reprisal from the law — lawmen who could make him forgo his physiotherapy practice — his other line of work in England.

When Crisp first visited Colombia in 2001, Uribe’s hardline security policy was in full swing. The Australian artist chose to fly into Bogota from Quito rather than travel by land in order to avoid guerilla or paramilitary road blocks. During this time he was one of the few foreign travelers to venture into this troubled country. Crisp recalled the streets being very quiet at night, almost as if a curfew had been enacted. Political street art by artists such as world-renowned Toxicomano and DjLu, however, was just beginning to emerge. At the time, paramilitary death squads patrolled the streets at night, conducting social cleansing — essentially murdering “undesirables” like homeless, drug addicts or even graffiteros caught spraying a controversial message on a barren wall.

Ten years later, Crisp now lives comfortably in Bogota with his flight attendant girlfriend and newborn girl and says he never feels uneasy on the street when he is painting.  Street people and drug addicts bother him only out of appreciation for his work and the death squads who used to instil fear have merged into other criminal organizations with different agendas.

During a recent collaboration with Colombian artist “Dast1” on a mural in La Candelaria, a popular tourist destination within the Colombian capital, Crisp painted folks from Choco — one of Colombia’s poorest departments, currently plagued by drug trafficking. After the pair had finished work, Dast1 headed down into town to spread some more stencil work. He was spotted by a policeman and as punishment told to spend the next hour sweeping up cigarette butts in the Plaza de Chorro de Quevedo. Had this been England, Dast1 would probably have spent the night in jail and faced a fine and criminal charges.

This is one of the reasons Crisp loves Colombia. Although an artist all his life, raised by parents who were also artists, it is here in Colombia that he has had the real chance to express himself to a wide audience. His work plays on political themes often involving displaced people or highlighting the irresponsibility of certain international corporations who otherwise go unnoticed thanks to state-influenced media outlets and powerful conglomerates.

“It is best to keep the art work cryptic rather than overtly political so as to avoid having it defaced by those with differing perspectives,” said Crisp. “Street art is an essential way to convey messages to the public which otherwise would be buried by the mainstream media.”

There is indeed a trend among Bogota journalists to put a negative slant on graffiteros, branding them as vandals or street hoodlums. Crisp fears that this kind of false portrayal will pigeonhole all street artists.

With works by top graffiteros such as “Guache” adorning the streets in beautiful lucid color, or the work of “Toxiocmano” — highly educated artists with alert minds and a passion for the well-being of their fellow Colombians, it is clear that this kind of media pigeonholing is a mistake.

This perspective is evident in Crisp’s optimism for the development of Colombia. He views the Santos administration as progressive — one which is building on Uribe’s more questionable means of securing the country for urbanites. Crisp sees a changing country, and although this is going to take many decades, and he is well aware of the adversity which exists, his optimism is contagious.

Through art, Crisp has engaged less fortunate children who have not benefitted from Colombia’s recent economic growth. These children are part of the thousands of families displaced from rural areas around the country due to an ongoing armed conflict. They continue to arrive in Bogota and settle in the southern barrios (neighborhoods). Here, Crisp and other street artists have provided art work shops that teach youths how to produce their own stencils.

One of the core principles in Crisp’s ideology is to reclaim the street aesthetic for local communities. He is constantly asked by shop and home owners if he would paint murals on the front of their buildings and homes.

Crisp is in demand.

While he continues to evolve as an artist, Crisp collaborates with some of the biggest names in Colombian graffiti, helping them promote themselves on the international circuit. Along with his graffiti tours, pitched as one of the top three tourist attractions in Bogota, Crisp has become something of an ambassador for Colombian street art.

Perhaps another life will determine his next move, with a young daughter now growing up in Bogota, the schools of Australia may offer a more secure future. Colombia still has a long way to go in terms of increasing equality and quality of life. For now at least, Crisp will continue to contribute towards this progression and continue to reclaim the street aesthetic for the people.

Crisp shares his perspective of the Bogota Street Art scene in a passionate and informative tour every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 1PM in the “Parque de los Periodistas” near the “Las Aguas” transmillenio station.

You can check Crisp out on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Crispstreetart

Simon Phillips is a writer/photographer who owns www.elusiveworld.org