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Art

Everyday Objects and Buildings Float Atmospherically in Cinta Vidal’s Perception-Bending Murals

It’s all about perspective in the multifaceted murals of Cinta Vidal, several of which the artist recently completed in Italy, Portugal, Germany, and Denmark. While some works focus on architectural details such as gable ends jutting out at unexpected angles or clustered together in mind-bending proportions, other pieces emphasize the relationships between people and their interactions within space or with each other as they navigate their shifting surroundings.

In preparation for a new project, Vidal researches the history and culture of an area and the buildings that surround the wall where she plans to work. Her characteristically suspended structures, household objects, and geometric shapes (previously) cast shadows and appear to sail through compositions that connect thematically to neighborhood or special events.  “All my murals play with their surroundings, reflecting and honoring the aesthetics and culture that surrounds them,” she tells Colossal. “I always do research, study the wall context, and paint a detailed sketch before going.”

Vidal’s painting “On Chairs” is also featured on the album cover of Tears for Fears’ latest album The Tipping Point. She is currently working toward a solo exhibition with Thinkspace Projects in New York in autumn of next year, and you can find more of her work on her website and Instagram.

 

Art

Seth Globepainter’s Imaginative Murals Center Childhood Optimism and Joy

French artist Julien Malland, aka Seth Globepainter (previously), is known for his murals that capture the playfulness, determination, and innocence of childhood. Painted in cities from Paris to Jersey City to Amman, the large-scale works find humor and joy in youthful pastimes, while capturing the vibrant imaginations associated with adolescence. The faceless characters tend to be optimistic even as they confront adversity, particularly in the artist’s most recent murals addressing the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Currently, Malland is working on a series of hand-embellished lithographs and preparing for a solo show opening on October 27 at Fluctuart in Paris, where he lives. He has a monograph slated for publishing this fall, as well, and you can follow updates on that release, in addition to his latest murals, on Instagram.

 

Art

A Playfully Grotesque Monster Peeks Out of Danaé Brissonnet’s Ravenous Mural in Montréal

A grotesquely beautiful monster with monarch wings, long feathered lashes, and a curiously large mouth has taken over a corner building in Montréal. The cheeky puppet mural is by French-Canadian artist Danaé Brissonnet in collaboration with Poncili Creacion and stands at the intersection of Boulevard Saint Laurent and Rue Marie Anne. Centered around the theme of digestion, the massive public work is a playful, metaphorical interpretation of the bodily process. “These days I’m intrigued with exploring the ways in which I nourish myself… the who and what I let inside,” Brissonnet writes on Instagram. “On the outside, he seems cute and inviting, but he will ferociously protect himself, deciding just who may enter his house.”

A boxy character with outstretched arms swivels atop the roof, and a rainbow chute evocative of a digestive track emerges from one side. Flora and fauna surround the anatomical parts, which the artist explains:

His yellow eyes are positioned in the center of his face and crowned by an echinacea flower, a really special flower for the immune system, a symbol of hope and strength. The arms transform into roosters, (which honors) the Portuguese park and the neighborhood’s delicious Portuguese roast chicken… The long crane holding a house is a little message to myself to find a home somewhere that I can set roots!

Brissonnet, who’s based in Guadeloupe, is currently working on a mural in Québec before she travels to Detroit for City Walls. Find more of her projects that blend puppetry and public art on her site.

 

Art Craft

Delicate Lace Patterns Overlay Facades in Ornate Large-Scale Murals by NeSpoon

Polish artist NeSpoon (previously) continues to add to her expansive collection of murals that merge local craft traditions and street art. Having traveled around Europe in recent months, she’s completed pieces in France, Spain, and Italy, to name a few, and each oversized motif recreates a lace pattern sourced from a museum or resident at a massive scale. The resulting works, which are spray-painted in white, are intricate studies of the region’s florals, ornamental styles, and tatting methods and how they differ throughout cultures and eras.

NeSpoon, who is based in Warsaw, generously shares in-progress and production photos on her site, and you can follow her latest pieces on Instagram.

 

Art

Movement and Instinct Inform Taquen’s Murals of Migrating Birds and Human Touch

Thin, structural lines delineate a magpie wing and contour a child’s nose or cheekbone in Taquen’s murals. Working with a color palette of pastels and neutral tones, the Spanish artist (previously) paints large-scale portraits, fragments of limbs, and birds, often leaving the composition’s skeletal forms visible. “The supports are just as important as the work itself,” he tells Colossal. “I look for camouflage, minimalism, and mixture. In the end, it is also a metaphorical form of the footprint that I believe we should leave in the places we pass through.”

Many of Taquen’s works consider the relationship between species through the lens of movement and impulse, focusing on gesture, touch, and instinctive acts. Birds mid-flight embody the tie between freedom and migration, while bare feet lounging in the grass or a hand grasping a flower channel a desire for physical contact. “I think we are very disconnected, living in parallel with nature, and it is a mistake. We must share it, experience it, live it, and thus we will be able to understand and respect it,” he says.

In the coming months, the artist will be working on murals in Belgium, Portugal, Ireland, France, and Spain, in addition to a conceptual project centered on paths and walking. You can follow those on Instagram.

 

Art

Awash in Color, Alice Pasquini’s Murals Exude Hope and Affection

For Alice Pasquini, painting outside among pedestrians, cars, and the milieu of local life is an inherent component of her practice. The artist begins each mural by studying the intended wall and its physical qualities. Material, paint color, and various markings and damages offer indications about the area’s history and people, she says, and form a well-worn, culturally situated canvas. She then renders large-scale pieces of affectionate couples, children, and figures with extraordinarily kind and welcoming faces, expressions that contrast the largely subversive and politically charged messages synonymous with street art.

“I speak about human emotion and the relationships between people,” she tells Colossal. “That is what influences me more. Walls around the world were a way to get out a message of being united—even if that seems banal—as opposed to rampant cynicism.” Whether painted in shades of pink or awash in vibrant primary colors, the murals advocate for strengthening bonds and finding connections in unusual places.

Pasquini’s murals grace walls around the world, including cities like her native Rome, Oslo, and most recently Toronto. This week, she’s directing the Cvtà Street Festival in Molise, Italy—the seventh annual event involves multiple artists previously featured on Colossal like Daku, Cinta Vidal, Icy & Sot, Ememem, and Akut—and you can follow updates on Instagram.