I am not much of an art critic. Nor am I a follower, or an overt fan necessarily, of the urban redecoration of private property done late at night with spray paint. However I do appreciate a good message. I have noticed that there are a lot of political and philosophical communiques that materialize on edifices late at night in Lima. I appreciate the substance that some of them put out there, in spite of the means.

Fear paralyzes.

I went out tonight to Central Lima to find more stencil art and I was not dissappointed.

Ants - Not sure that this says anything political, but I thought it was clever.

Butterfly - It is a shame I used the flash on this. The colors were striking.

Classic.

María Jesus Alvarado Rivera

Ms. Alvarado Rivera (1878-1971) was a Peruvian feminist in the early to mid 20th century who fought for women’s and indigenous rights.  She was imprisoned and then exiled to Argentina for 11 years by the Leguía government in the 1920s.  As the stencil attests, much like Che she is a national hero in Peru.

Although this is not stencil art, it once again displays the geography of the struggle that is taking place in Cajamarca 860 K away.

A few pictures of Central Lima for context.  It is quite the modern city with a very noticeable colonial influence in architecture.

They love their fountains in Lima... despite the fact that it is essentially in a desert (much like Las Vegas or Los Angeles).

Central Civic Plaza - Central Lima