Urban art in the periphery: women artists and their networking

Abstract

Introduction: urban art has become a fundamental bet for the regeneration, beautification and revaluation of peripheral neighborhoods. A case study is the periphery of Madrid. The main objectives of this work are: to identify urban art works made by women in the peripheral areas of Madrid; to analyze the urban art interventions created by women in the selected locations and to study the interactions and communicative links present in social networks such as Instagram between artists and users. Methodology: the online search was key to gather information about the works of study, revealing that many artists had active profiles on Instagram. Therefore, a netnographic study was carried out, as it is the most appropriate methodology to analyze public discourse in virtual communities. Results: it is shown how Instagram facilitates a constant dialogue between the works studied and the users of the platform. This medium has made it possible to understand the intentions and orientations that the artists wanted to capture in their works, generating comments and reactions that are difficult to collect in situ. Discussion: the different art installations studied convey clear and reflective messages, many of them the product of collaborations with local communities and educational centers. Conclusions: the cases analyzed show how urban women artists are gaining recognition in a sector historically dominated by male artists. The dissemination and visibility of their work is considered indispensable in order to have female cultural references that help to achieve a greater balance in artistic spaces.