Here are a few images of this stunning mural by Australian Guido van Helten painted last June in Łódź, Poland for Fundacja Urban Forms .
Though Guido has been invited to participate of the project in two earlier occasions (in Poznań and Grudziądz), this is the first time he paints in Łódź, the home of over 100 spread all over the city.
This project came about through a commission by Fundacja Urban Forms to repair the damaged mural painted in 2014 by the artists Cekas, SEPE, Chazme, Proembrion and Robert Proch.
According to the organisers, there were raised questions regarding the renovation of the murals by the community housing in the Zarzew district of Łódź. It was then when Urban Forms decided to invite an artist, who could work closely with the local community. After weeks of preparations, Łódź was ready for Guido van Helten.
As described by the artist, the mural is a comment on the question of Public vs Private expression in Poland through a study of the post-soviet explosion of colour, the ‘Pastelosis’ of concrete apartment blocks and the value pieces of Art have in the home vs. murals in the public space. The mural raises this question through a research project within the community.
“We engaged the residents of the community housing in the Zarzew district of Łódź to discover the private expression of Art in the home and their value vs murals in public space. I then was forced to play with the harmony of my own work this time with an unusual use of pastel colours in an already saturated environment. I tried to condense the pastels into a saturation within the framework on the image, reproducing the abstract expressions of the residents. Bringing private art into the public space.”
Guido van Helten
Part visual artist, part anthropologist, Guido Van Helten, 29, is an Australian contemporary artist dedicated to paint large-scale, site-specific mural works. His subjects are black and white and sepia toned portraits, like old photographs that speak of the history and stories of the places and people he visits.
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Author: Fran
Founder and editor of Urbanite. Street Art lover who after the finishing her MA thesis on the Mexican and Norwegian muralist movement in the 1920-50s, developed a fascination for street art and graffiti that eventually led to collaborations with different art blogs, including the creation of this one.
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