BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
An Awakening!
A good way to start the week, and in the case of murals by Mexican Street Artist SPAIK a way to take flight. You can see it in all three – the small pink birds that lift off the heart, the voice, the printed page – and you know that the artist is also talking about his life through symbols, pattern, and with color.
Spaik “The Awakening”. Detail. Morelia, Mexico. 2013 (photo © Jose Hernandez)
The just completed murals in Morelia, Michoacan de Ocampo, Mexico are striking because of the unapologetic use of color – strong, bold, even simple. Not surprising in a culture where color is an integral part of the artisanal, mythical, and even modernist legacy of the country. It is a well known fact that when the Spanish Conquerors entered Tenochtitlan, the sprawling Aztec city, they were most impressed not only by the majestic architecture but the striking colors in which most of the buildings were brilliantly painted.
Spaik “The Awakening”. Detail. Morelia, Mexico. 2013 (photo © Jose Hernandez)
Little of that color remains today in the archeological sites and Mesoamerican artifacts in museum collections – but it is extensively chronicled in accounts of the invasion and the post-colonial times that the Aztecs adorned and highlighted their monuments in vivid colors. Master Mexican Muralists of the 20th Century carried the tradition and Spaik brings it into the 2010s with these huge figures, commanding and sweeping with polychromatic force and symbolism. As a painter Spaik is a student of that tradition and of folklore and as a formal student he is getting his bachelors in film studies – imagine where these traditions and magical mythical stories will carry him and us en la futura.
There will be more awakenings from Spaik.
Spaik “The Awakening”. Detail. Morelia, Mexico. 2013 (photo © Jose Hernandez)
Spaik “The Awakening”. Detail. Morelia, Mexico. 2013 (photo © Jose Hernandez)
Spaik “The Awakening”. Detail. Morelia, Mexico. 2013 (photo © Jose Hernandez)
Spaik “The Awakening”. Detail. Morelia, Mexico. 2013 (photo © Jose Hernandez)
Spaik “The Awakening”. Detail. Morelia, Mexico. 2013 (photo © Jose Hernandez)
Spaik “The Awakening”. Detail. Morelia, Mexico. 2013 (photo © Jose Hernandez)
Spaik “The Awakening”. Detail. Morelia, Mexico. 2013 (photo © Jose Hernandez)
Spaik “The Awakening” Morelia, Mexico. 2013 (photo © Jose Hernandez)
Spaik “The Awakening”. Morelia, Mexico. 2013 (photo © Jose Hernandez)
Spaiks walls are part of Festival de Arte Urbano Nicolaita 2013. Please look them up!
<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA
Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!
<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA
238
138
45
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
An unusual amalgam of the interactivity of the street combined with the formality of a gallery environment, Magic City opened this fall in a converted factory in Dresden, Germany with an eclectic sele...
The wall at Le M.U.R. in Paris got the Mode2 treatment just ahead of the legislative elections, offering a fine opportunity for the artist to wax politically. He created his message of empowerment on...
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities. Now screening : 1. ECB and ANPU in Delhi, India with Ghandi 2. "If I Live I'll See you Tuesday" By Gary Gardner ...
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities. Now screening : 1. Kraftwerk: Pop Art, Remembering Florian Schneider BSA Special Feature: Kraftwerk: Po...
We’re celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next by thanking BSA Readers, Friends, and Family for your support in 2021. We have selected some of our favorite shots from the yea...
