Tuesday 11 October 2016

The Boxes of Carvoeiro: Algarve 7

Junction Boxes, Paint and Some Imagination

Carvoeiro
Not an unspoiled fishing village - there are none left in the Algarve - but a small town whose geography has helped it retain some of its character and charm

Junction boxes are everywhere but Portuguese towns seem to have an inordinate number of them. Drab and grey, they are magnets for graffiti and fly posting....

Boxes in Lagoa - drab as you like

... but not in Carvoeiro.

Fish, what would you expect? Boxes of Carvoeiro

The painting was the idea of Phil Francis a British resident of Carvoeiro for almost three decades. With the support of the local authority, he extracted permission from Energias de Portugal who own the boxes, teamed up with Helder José, a German/Portuguese professional graffiti artist and set to work at the end of last year.

A touch of the Jackson Pollocks: Boxes of Carvoiero

And they have been busy. I photographed 55 boxes in a hour's walk up and down the main streets and I doubt I got them all. Because of the way the paintings are juxtaposed it took me a while to spot the themes, but they are there. There is local architecture...

Local architecture: Boxes of Carvoeiro

...sometimes with a cat.

Local architecture with cats: Boxes of Carvoeiro

Traditional Algarve chimneys are well represented...

Traditional Algarve Chimney: Boxes of Carvoeiro

...as are azulejo tiles.

Painted tiles: Boxes of Carvoeiro

...and there is a series of local views, like this one of the beach.

Carvoeiro Beach: Boxes of Carvoeiro

Local characters also feature, like Tia Olympia (Aunty Olympia)...

Tia Olympia: Boxes of Carvoeiro

...and João Peludo (Hairy John).

João Peludo: Boxes of Carvoeiro

There is a series on local fauna....

Frog: Carvoeiro Boxes

....while other paintings relate to where they are, like this alembic outside a booze shop.

Alembic outside a booze shop: Boxes of Carvoeiro

I particularly like this one as the theme continues up the wall above and links across to the advertisement at the side...

Carvoeiro Boxes

....and finally (for a touch of controversy)I wonder if the placing of a Virgin Mother and a stork on adjacent boxes was entirely accidental.

No comment; Boxes of Carvoeiro

There are more, but that is a representative selection. I am indebted to Alyson and Dave Sheldrake's Algarve Blog for some of the information in this post.