Fresh from his residency at a nun’s convent called Creença (Belief), Alberto Montes takes on the “Politics of Lucidity” in this new mural in Barcelona here on October 1st one year after Catalan voted to secede from Spain in a vote Madrid deemed illegal.
A moody monocrome scene of people placing votes, Montes says he is paying tribute to peaceful democratic change in an era where democratic structures are under stress in much of the developed and developing world. In contrast, protesters have thrown at police a kaleidoscope of colored paints during the last couple of days in Barcelona, covering officers and the ground with aesthetically celebratory cheer.
Alberto Montes. “PolÍtica de Luicidez” Contorno Urbano Foundation / Kaligrafics. 12 + 1 Project. Sant Feliu del Llobregat. Barcelona, September 2018. (photo © Alex Miró)
“This mural reflects on the human condition and its ideals in moments of great tension and political decision,” says the Sevillian Montes, who achieves a depth of field in this scene by building up the layers and strategically masking.
It is times like these that we reexamine the fundamentals of democracies to see if they are healthy. Freedom of speech and artistic expression are often the first to go in oppressive police states so the existing of this work is a good sign. Meanwhile you can be continually reassured and hopeful because of the populist program he’s painting for, the heralded 12+1 Project in Sant Feliu del Llobregat outside Barcelona.
Alberto Montes. “PolÍtica de Luicidez” Contorno Urbano Foundation / Kaligrafics. 12 + 1 Project. Sant Feliu del Llobregat. Barcelona, September 2018. (photo © Alex Miró)
Alberto Montes. “PolÍtica de Luicidez” Contorno Urbano Foundation / Kaligrafics. 12 + 1 Project. Sant Feliu del Llobregat. Barcelona, September 2018. (photo © Alex Miró)
Alberto Montes. “PolÍtica de Luicidez” Contorno Urbano Foundation / Kaligrafics. 12 + 1 Project. Sant Feliu del Llobregat. Barcelona, September 2018. (photo © Alex Miró)
Alberto Montes. “PolÍtica de Luicidez” Contorno Urbano Foundation / Kaligrafics. 12 + 1 Project. Sant Feliu del Llobregat. Barcelona, September 2018. (photo © Alex Miró)
Alberto Montes. “PolÍtica de Luicidez” Contorno Urbano Foundation / Kaligrafics. 12 + 1 Project. Sant Feliu del Llobregat. Barcelona, September 2018. (photo © Alex Miró)
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
Brazilian street artist and public artist Narcélio Grud favors kinetic and sound-producing sculpture, preferably with your direct interaction completing it. What fun is a bell if you can’t tap it wit...
As winter loosens it's grip, the first signs of spring are popping up all over New York, with new buds of passion from tender branches, construction walls, softened soil and industrial doorways. What...
f Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities. Now screening : 1. Paradox and CPT. OLF and Daredevilry in Berlin2. The Tunnels. Nuart Festival 2019. A film ...
Hillary Clinton announced in Brooklyn this week that she supports raising the minimum wage to $250,000 a speech while Bernie Sanders scoped around the showroom of a Danish furniture designer in th...
Dog days of summer be damned, the Street Art in all of its fabulous illegal varieties, the true Vox Populi (and self-advertisment) persists and insists through the streets this July. On the t...