BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
Mexican modern folkloric muralist Spaik participated in the Bloop Festival in Ibiza during the month long proactive music festival that is now in its fifth year. With a general ethos that “Art is for Everybody”, Bloop invites a number of artists each year to create works all over this town that for two decades has gained the international reputation as a party place with superstar djs, natural beauty, and sun-soaked hedonism.
Spaik at work on “Nochixtlan” for Le Mur. Paris, France. July 2016. (photo © Pierre Lecaroz)
So it is interesting that this year’s theme is “No Fear”, and the festivals’ manifesto points to cross-cultural scourges of relentless cell phone addiction, job insecurity, and unrealistic body types portrayed in fashion advertising . Looks like the honeymoon for pleasure-seekers is over.
Spaik “Nochixtlan” for Le Mur. Paris, France. July 2016. (photo © Pierre Lecaroz)
Spaik interpreted the “No Fear” theme with the same symbol of a massive colorful eagle that he used the previous month at Le Mur in Paris. Known for its association on the Mexican flag perched on a cactus with a serpent in its mouth, here in Ibiza the eagle flies freely through a tunnel in this country that Mexico declared independence from in 1821.
Interestingly, Spaik depicts a slightly more political eagle in Paris at the famously curated wall with references to the PEN party, the state of Oaxaca, and a small little rat with a Mexican sash – looking rather fearful. So we are not sure if “No Fear” can extend around the world, as hopeful as the Bloop festival manifesto may be, but Spaik definitely has created two impressive works that would please many in the Mexican mural-making tradition that addresses social and political issues.
Spaik “Nochixtlan” for Le Mur. Paris, France. July 2016. (photo © Pierre Lecaroz)
Spaik “Nochixtlan” for Le Mur. Paris, France. July 2016. (photo © Pierre Lecaroz)
Spaik at work on“Flying Eagle” for Bloop Festival. Ibiza, Spain. July 2016. (photo © Spaik)
