Puppy Love

Sometimes one finds a treasure out there and I found one in Barcelona. it's not a treasure of money, not of any value, unless one loves art, art in the streets. On my trip to Barcelona I found an old Dolk stencil in the dark and gothic part of the city.

The stencil is quite small and hard to find. It depicts a puppy riding R2D2. Dolk humor at it's best. Beside the Dolk stencil it's an old stencil by C215 too. Patners in crime :-).

I've seen the same stencil here in Bergen many times, as I walked by on my way to work every day. One day it was gone. The stencil was illegal and the new house owner painted over the stecil. I guess the owner regrets that today, since the value and recognition of Dolks work have raised noticeably over time. And I was sad because another piece of street art had disapeared from our streets. I never photographed the "puppy love" stencil in Bergen and I regret that today. On that day, I decided to start documenting street art by photographing the work in Bergen (and later rest of the world :-)). I think it's just a collectors instinct in me, and when I found the old Dolk stencil in Barcelona my heart was filled with joy. Even if the piece is not one my faviourite Dolk pieces, and either especially spectacular, big or advanced, seeing it in a small and narrow street in Barcelona, was like finding a hidden gem, a treasure.

In 2007 the Difusor Stencil Art Festival went down in Barcelona. Around 100 stencil artists from all around the world teamed up and sprayed a whole weekend away. Dolk participated on Difusor and I think that the "Puppy Love" stencil stems from that festival. Dolk did several pieces at the festival, but I think "Puppy Love" is the only one who has survived to present day.  

Street Art is temporal, some works lasts for a few hours and others last for years. One never knows.