SOAP: FROM MADRID TO BOSTON

Originally from Madrid, Soap now lives almost three years in the city of Boston. First of all he wanted to make a  comparison between the two cities in terms of graffiti, Soap explains to us his vision of the graff scene in the capital of Massachusetts, along with some pieces by himself.


The truth is that it is easy to make a comparison between Madrid and Boston. Madrid wins. Madrid wins, because in Boston there isn’t any graffiti. It is a city which had a great past (some of graffitis most recognizable tags came from here), but now the latest mayor has toughened up the laws which has almost made graffiti disappear.  Its up to the point where the laws of Boston can fine the owner of a wall for not having had their graffiti buffed in time. They even offer free cleaning, all you have to do is make a phone call.

One of the things which surprised me about Boston is that there isn’t many murals either, and the few storefronts there is are usually painted, not like in Madrid, I mean they are painted throug commission  work. They don’t even have tag on them. You have to ask for permission and a license since it is considered public space, and all publicity must be paid for.The city is precious, its character manifests itself with how clean it is. The hardened laws of Boston has created a new wave of sticker bombing. Everyone does stickers, and it seems to be looked upon as yet another plague. The law defines the stickers as vandalism, but it is a minor offense.

Graffiti is a punishable crime, and we are not talking about minor economic sanctions: many writers has had temporary time in jail, and some of them didn’t get short sentences, only for painting.
After having lived here for 2 and a half year I can say that I miss seeing active graffiti in the streets, not only like in Madrid, like any city in Europe. Ive had the luck to be able to work in many parts of the United States and Europe and I miss seeing how things can change over night, new tags coming up, other tags disappearing.

I am also lucky to have great graffiti artists around me at work, some of them with between 10 to 25 years in the game. It is a inspiring environment which make you want to keep painting. And I have to say that all the people I left behind in Spain amazes me every time I come back and see what they do.
Boston needs a bit of color.