Spring is quite full now, and blooms have given way to leaves and nascent fruit.  The warmer weather, sunny, with occasional caressing rains, has invigorated Prague after a drowsy winter.  Fine weather has also brought out the graffiti artists and attached are a smattering of their pieces that could potentially be gone today. (I took them yesterday)

I was lucky enough to speak with one of the artists; I don’t take photos of them generally, because what they do is tolerated but not necessarily legal.  I asked him how long he’d been painting, he said since he was 19.  He looked around 30.  Though I thought the scene in Prague had improved over the past 11 years, he disagreed, stating that there more and more the paintings were being seen as vandalism.  As well, there are more artists, and not all are of a good quality.

“How long does a mural last?”

“One week, one day even…”

Paint is very expensive here in Prague.  To spend all this money for something that might last a day might seem a waste to some, but people can coo over the ephemeral, transient nature of Buddhist sand mandalas.  On their best merits, I perceive these murals as an urban iteration of that sacred art.

The blackwash background makes this mural pop!

Siber? Saber? A unique style found on the riverfront.

This one is a bit coarse up close, but the idea is so great. But don’t ask me what it says, I just like the design.

I hope you too are having a colorful spring, or fall for those in the Southern Hemisphere.