Publisher's Synopsis
In Montevideo Popular Graphics, Argentine photographer Guido Indij--responsible for several collections exploring South American graffiti--turns his eye towards Uruguay's street culture: "I can't believe the things I see when out walking the streets of Montevideo: posters from our childhood, signage from our parents´ days, archaeological traces of the last letristas (sign-writers), bestiaries, Carlos Gardels, fish and more fish..." After walking extensively through the city, Indij notes that through these graphics "we can reach an understanding of our identity." Much like the Surrealists, who found inspiration in the posters, signs and ads that papered the streets of Paris in the 1920s, Indij mines the language of the street for clues to our collective unconscious. Indij's previous books on street graphics incude Hasta La Victoria, Stencil! (2005) and 1000 Stencils (2008), which was published concurrently with an exhibition at The Drawing Center in New York. Parece mentira las cosas que se ven por las calles de Montevideo: carteles de nuestra infancia y de la de nuestros padres, huellas arqueológicas de los últimos letristas, bestiarios, Gardeles, peces y pescados, universos constructivos, stencils universales, botoneras maravillosas, llamadas gráficas. Caminamos más de doscientas cuadras impulsados por la sospecha de que a través de estos materiales accedemos a la comprensión de nuestra identidad.
