Estación Palermo

Untitled, Milo Lockett

Phew! After the heavy history from last week, I decided I was on the search for something more lighthearted. Naturally I looked for the most playful and colorful art hidden in the Subté. Palermo: one of the most touristy regions of Buenos Aires. It is has the MALBA art museum, expensive shopping stores, a rose garden (because we gotta have some green somewhere in this industrial city), all the nightclubs and some of the best restaurants around. But unless you live in BA, you would not know the true daily culture of los porteños* In the subway station of Palermo, Milo Lockett portrays symbols and terms that are recognizable only to the residents of Argentina. It is like a secret code and I had the honor to understand the language. For example, the word “colectivo” is written on one of the columns in the subway. This word does not translate in English but it is the term Argentines use for the public bus. In addition, I saw a painting of a little girl with the word “fuerte” over her (not pictured). This is a common word in Spanish but the idea of a girl being strong is UNcommon in the machismo Latin culture. Lockett has symbols and phrases like these all around the Subté. They are truly powerful messages, disgusted as the playful, childlike designs. I think his youthful and simplistic style makes his concept more approachable. Above ground one will see the surface-level beauty of Argentina and as one goes underground, one will find the rich hidden beauty of Argentina ranging from their crazy public transportation systems to their active strive for liberation.

*los porteños = a word commonly used for native Argentines, but specifically in the Buenos Aires region. ‘Port’ in Spanish is ‘puerto’, which is where the word ‘porteños’ originated.

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