All posts tagged: Clara Anton

SUE975 Paints In Memoriam for Treze At L’Hospitalet de Llobregat

SUE975 Paints In Memoriam for Treze At L’Hospitalet de Llobregat

March 24, 2018

Barcelona graffiti artist Treze passed away from cancer at the age of 31 in January and many of his peers have done tribute pieces to him in the last couple of months, including Tenor, Z. Rock, Magg, Phen, Snok, Hurt, and Smot.

SUE975. In Memoriam – TREZE – Fundación Contorno Urbano. 12 + 1 Project. L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

An alumni of the Contorno Urbano family, painting the 12+1 wall only 2 years ago in April 2016, he was respected for his masterful skills with illustrative line, texture, and an atmospheric, almost watercolor wash techniques, intermixing people and the natural world in his compositions.

SUE975. In Memoriam – TREZE – Fundación Contorno Urbano. 12 + 1 Project. L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

As a tribute to his work and his memory, the modernist minimalist SUE975 brandishes one of his signature geometric centerpieces with the old-skool throw up shine of silver surrounded by a field of euphoric phosphorescent yellow.

SUE975. In Memoriam – TREZE – Fundación Contorno Urbano. 12 + 1 Project. L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

Read more about Treze’s passing  here and check out his Instagram at Acid Collapse.

Image of Treze in December 2016 from his Instagram Acid Collapse (© Treze)

SUE975. In Memoriam – TREZE – Fundación Contorno Urbano. 12 + 1 Project. L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

SUE975. In Memoriam – TREZE – Fundación Contorno Urbano. 12 + 1 Project. L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

SUE975. In Memoriam – TREZE – Fundación Contorno Urbano. 12 + 1 Project. L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

 

SUE975. In Memoriam – TREZE – Fundación Contorno Urbano. 12 + 1 Project. L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

SUE975. In Memoriam – TREZE – Fundación Contorno Urbano. 12 + 1 Project. L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona. (photo © SUE975)

 

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Zurik is “DIVIDED” at Contorno Urbano 12 + 1

Zurik is “DIVIDED” at Contorno Urbano 12 + 1

January 17, 2018

Graffiti writer/mural painter/graphic designer ZURIK is divided not just by her artist description but by her nationalities. Leaving Bogotá and moving to Barcelona is a big split as well and she’s still adjusting to the cultural differences between Spain and Colombia.

No wonder her new portrait is sliced in two! She calls it “Divided”.

Zurik. “Divided”. Fundación Contorno Urbano. 12 + 1 Project. L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

“I dedicate 80% of my time to writing graffiti,” she says, and you can see that her tight lettering style is in development – exploring shapes, dimensions, fills, and contours. What is newer perhaps is her exploration of characters over the last couple of years, looking at faces and paying attention to proportions, colors and expression.

Zurik. “Divided”. Fundación Contorno Urbano. 12 + 1 Project. L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

Here at the Contorno Urbano 12 + 1 wall in l’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona) you can see she’s using two colorways to emphasize the division that can live inside each of us; opposite emotions somehow complementing one another, hopefully not ripping you apart.

Adjusting to a new culture, invited to paint at graff/mural festivals and jams throughout the year, and now working commercially with some brands, it looks like Zurik knows how to pull it all together.

Zurik. “Divided”. Fundación Contorno Urbano. 12 + 1 Project. L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

Zurik. “Divided”. Fundación Contorno Urbano. 12 + 1 Project. L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

Zurik. “Divided”. Fundación Contorno Urbano. 12 + 1 Project. L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

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Esteban Marin: Wishes And Hopes For 2018

Esteban Marin: Wishes And Hopes For 2018

December 16, 2017

As we draw closer to the new year we’ve asked a very special guest every day to take a moment to reflect on 2017 and to tell us about one photograph that best captures the year for them. It’s an assortment of treats to surprise you with every day – to enjoy and contemplate as we all reflect on the year that has passed and conjure our hopes and wishes for 2018. This is our way of sharing the sweetness of the season and of saying ‘Thank You’ to each of you for inspiring us throughout the year.

*******

Esteban Marin is the president of Contorno Urbano, a community-powered foundation just outside of Barcelona that sponsors personal, cultural, and citywide public art projects throughout the year. A graffiti writer since 2000, Esteban says it was his experiences making art on the street that drove him to train as an artist and illustrator and eventually paint large murals. Luckily for the communities of Sant Feliu, Cornellà and L’hospitalet, Marin is making sure that other artists have new opportunities as well.

ESTEBAN MARIN

This photo is from our 12+1 project this year in L’Hospitalet. For me it’s the perfect image to remember this year and to think about the next to come.

Following a path that is guided by ethics and passion – it’s always difficult and rewarding at the same time.

To me finding a destination and continuing to try to reach it no matter what – that is what keeps me running year after year.

BYG. 12 + 1 Project. Fundacion Contorno Urbano. L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

Fundacion Contorno Urbano

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Fernando Leon Creates “Greediness” for “12 + 1 Project” in Barcelona

Fernando Leon Creates “Greediness” for “12 + 1 Project” in Barcelona

August 12, 2017

Fresh out of the St. Joost Academy since last summer, the Bogota-born, Netherlands-based illustrator Fernando Leon just spent the first week of August creating this new mural called “Greediness”.

Fernando Leon. “Greediness”. Contorno Urbano “12 + 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

He’s been getting more of these mural-based opportunities lately, even though he began as a teen doing graffiti and confesses that he hates rules. A fan of day long drawing sessions and traveling, Leon found this project with the 12 + 1 Project outside of Barcelona to be rewarding because he is continuing to expand his vocabulary of characters and styles outside of the letter-forms he did as a teenager – and he wants to do a lot more.

Based on the successes of his commercial projects like beer bottle labels and skateboard designs, the non-stop illustrator and muralist definitely has more walls in his future.

Fernando Leon. “Greediness”. Contorno Urbano “12 + 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

Fernando Leon. “Greediness”. Contorno Urbano “12 + 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

 

Fernando Leon. “Greediness”. Contorno Urbano “12 + 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

For more on Contorno Urbano and the 12 x 1 Project please click HERE. 

For more on Fernando Leon please visit

Instagram: @_fernandoleon
Facebook: www.facebook.com/fernandoleonillustration
Website: www.fernandoleon.nl

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Graffiti Writer “Miedo 12” for Contorno Urbano Project 12 + 1 in Barcelona

Graffiti Writer “Miedo 12” for Contorno Urbano Project 12 + 1 in Barcelona

July 19, 2017

“Just like a drop of water is the origin of everything, here the spray is the one that, with its effluvium, originates the clouds of inspiration,” says MIEDO 12, the graffiti writer about his lettering coming into view amidst a forest of aerosol ideas. A member of the 21 year old Italian crew called BN, this Valencian began his writing career almost as long ago in 1998.

Miedo 12. Nothingness more than infinite. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

Since then MIEDO 12 has travelled and participated in exhibitions and competitions like the 1st Spanish graffiti contest in Móstoles, True Skills (Milan), Mos México, Wall Talks, and Roskilde (Denmark), among others, and his artworks have appeared in graffiti magazines like Innercity (France), Blazing (France), Graphotism (England), Bong-now (Italy), Pointless (Italy), Arcano (Italy), and Balcans (Russia).

“Nothingness More than Infinite” is the name of his new mural for the 12 + 1 project in l’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona, España) and you can see the wild affinity MIEDO 12 has for the letterform – and where it comes from. “ It embodies the learning, the experiences, the life of the creator,” he says, “and all of this is necessary to generate the whisper of the clouds that originate the letters.”

Miedo 12. Nothingness more than infinite. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

Miedo 12. Nothingness more than infinite. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

Miedo 12. Nothingness more than infinite. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

Miedo 12. Nothingness more than infinite. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

 

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“GO GO GO” BYG in Spain for 12+1 Project

“GO GO GO” BYG in Spain for 12+1 Project

May 6, 2017

Maybe it’s because we just saw Mark Mothersbaugh interviewed live onstage at NYU by Carlo McCormick, but when we saw this mechanically growing text it reminded us of DEVO and Kraftwerk and possibly Dadaist collage. And Russian Constructivists and the Bauhaus.

BYG. GO, GO, GO. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

Ding Ding Ding! We knew if we kept guessing we were bound to get it right, right? Patricia and Luis, of the art collective BYG, tell us that their new piece for the 12 + 1 project ”is a tribute that BYG wants to do to Rodchenko and Russian Constructivism.” Made with paper and plastic paint on a wall in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, the renowned illustrators are passionate about collage and have done a number of street interventions using the technique, as well as legally in spanish art festivals like Asalto in Zaragoza, Open Walls in Barcelona or Poliniza in Valencia.

The constructed environment becomes the norm through repetition, so it is refreshing, sometimes jarringly so, to see deconstruction. Says BYG about their new wall,”Collage is what unites and what separates, it is the encounter, the surprise, it is to subvert and decontextualize, it is discovery.” Go Go Go!

BYG. GO, GO, GO. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

BYG. GO, GO, GO. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

BYG. GO, GO, GO. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

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Grandpa Gives Thumbs Down : EDJINN for 12 + 1 Project In Barcelona

Grandpa Gives Thumbs Down : EDJINN for 12 + 1 Project In Barcelona

April 10, 2017

Grandpa is giving you the thumbs down.

Street Artist EDJINN from Barcelona just created this wall that clearly expresses it’s dislike for so-called Social media and “community engagement”.

EDJINN. Dislike. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

“I want to contrast old people with new technologies, social networks and the new ways to interact that young people use, and the disconnection it might be for older people,” he says of the satiric illustration he’s created for the 12+1 project in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.

Who can argue with this? We spend our days looking at phones, not each other – more concerned with the opinions and ideas expressed by total strangers that we call “friends.” Meanwhile the lady standing next to you brought your mother into the world and you are too busy “liking” and emoticon-ing to notice her.

Dislike.

EDJINN. Dislike. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

EDJINN. Dislike. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

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Elbi Elem Breaks the Rectangle for 12+1 in Barcelona

Elbi Elem Breaks the Rectangle for 12+1 in Barcelona

March 15, 2017

“Break with the rectangle as the space to intervened,” says artist Elbi Elem, the March painter for this wall curated monthly in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain. The abstract muralist says she began making kinetic sculpture in 2002 and has an interest in movement, composition and form.

Elbi Elem. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Fer Alcalá)

In fact she has redirected the attention outside of the rectangular canvas with an arching red line that extends beyond the stage, perhaps to annex a part of the sky and add it to the composition.

In her description of the new piece just completed, Ms. Elem says the flexible tube forms “forming a visual circuit” that captures the movement of the trains above – and becomes a framing device for anyone who may want to pose with it on the landing.

Elbi Elem. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Fer Alcalá)

Far from the rectilinear boxing of Mondrian and certainly not in his primary palette, the work is nonetheless geometric abstraction, calling to mind some of the heroic adds for locomotives and rail transportation of our last mid century.

By inducing the element of the handrail diagonally bisecting the wall, Elem opens the experience, rather than sealing it closed, symbolizing, as she says “traveling, moving forward, and action.”

Elbi Elem. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Fer Alcalá)

Elbi Elem. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

Elbi Elem. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Antón)

 

For more information about Contorno Urbano please click HERE.

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“Liberate the Child Within” Roc Blackblock for 12 + 1 in Barcelona

“Liberate the Child Within” Roc Blackblock for 12 + 1 in Barcelona

February 13, 2017

Free your mind, and the rest will follow.

Not only is it a lyric from a 90s pop song, it is a truth that people learn everyday to liberate themselves from attitudes and world views that they’ve accepted but now want to let go of.

Roc Blackblock. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Anton)

Catalan Street Artist Roc Blackblock creates a cage around the head and shoulders of his protagonist for the Project 12+1 in Barcelona. He calls it “Llibera l’infant que portes dins!”, which translates as “Liberate the Child Within”.

It makes sense because many adults stopped being creative or expressing their creativity after childhood – bowing to messages from schools, parents, even religious institutions. At some point we don’t even trust our abilities to be creative anymore.

Roc Blackblock. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Anton)

But Roc says you can get back there.

“It’s an invitation to reconnect with the aspects of ourselves that adult life and social pressures have repressed and dulled; spontaneity, creativity, fantasy, and imagination,” he says.

It’s worth a try, right?

Roc Blackblock. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Fernando Alcalá Losa)

Roc Blackblock. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Anton)

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A Wall a Month : Contorno Urbano Launches “12+1” for 2017

A Wall a Month : Contorno Urbano Launches “12+1” for 2017

February 2, 2017

Walls get buffed all the time in many cities as the municipal anti-graffiti campaigns scour the streetscape for unapproved aerosol missives and get out the bucket paint or bring by the power washer.

Irene López León. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Fernando Alcalá Losa)

In one Spanish city they are doing it once a month, regardless of what’s up there. At least on one wall.

The second edition of “12 +1” by a small nonprofit organization named Contorno Urbano has planned for one new artist every month to paint this wall. The nonprofit says they are composed of local artists, a social worker and an architect – all in the city of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, a municipality of a quarter million people to the immediate southwest of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain – has been planning and executing murals for over a decade.

Irene López León. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Fernando Alcalá Losa)

With a rotating roster beginning this month, the organization says it is “in an open-air art gallery” in a commercial district of the city. In a description of the event they say it “seeks to question the way we exhibit street art, and the place of these artworks in the city.”

January brought Irene López León and today we show you her new piece that incorporates elements of geometry, playing with perspective, organic elements, and a certain hypnotic quality.

Planned artists for 2017 are Iker Muro, Hosh, Miedo 12, Miquel Wert, Pati Baztán, Elbi Elem, Fernando León, Edjinn, BYG and Laura González Llaneli.

 

Irene López León. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Fernando Alcalá Losa)

Irene López León. Contorno Urbano “12 x 1” 2017. Barcelona. (photo © Clara Anton)

 

For more information about Contorno Urbano please click HERE.

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