Young graffiti writers arrested in Monterrey

A group of young people who decided to block traffic and paint traffic barriers on a major road in Monterrey made a 7-minute video of their mural work.



This article is taken from Global Voices.

Thirteen teenagers and young adults from the metropolitan area of Monterrey, city in the North of México, were sent to prison after a “graffiti attack” on an overpass along one of the busiest avenues in the city.

They were part of a group of 300 graffiti “writers” that organized the event through Fotologs (a social network similar to Flickr to upload photos) and websites. During the afternoon of May 17, they covered three lanes on Constitution Avenue with graffiti, with the paintings measuring one kilometer in length on walls on both sides of the lanes, taking on the name “macropinta” [macropainting].

According to Mexican newspaper Milenio [es], of the thirteen young boys arrested, 7 have paid 20,000 pesos [approx. 1,520 USD] individually in bail and fines in order to be released.

However, the ones that have not covered the bail are still in prison and, as newspaper El Porvenir [es] warns, they could spend more than 10 years in jail for causing damage on third-party property, with the aggravating circumstance that it was made as part of a “gang.” In sum, fines and bails have reached 200,000 pesos [approx. 15,200 USD] for these young boys of medium and lower socioeconomic levels.

Read the complete article here.

Here is TV news coverage of the incident.



Mexican artists such as Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco developed mural painting to a high art, so the "macropainting" event of Monterrey could be seen as a tribute to them. Obviously the police don´t see it that way. Here´s an article on Mexican muralists, and another, this one in English.