Guayaquil Adds a New Mural with Help from 10 Children with Disabilities
In an atmosphere of camaraderie, fun, and creativity, a monkey, an iguana, a butterfly, a bird, and trees took shape with the contribution of 10 children, who have different types of disabilities, ranging from progressive muscular dystrophy to Down Syndrome. The mural was made in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil by the painter Andrés Franco, recognized in the art world as Andy Son. He is a teacher with close to 150 murals in the country, especially in Guayaquil, and has also painted murals in Brazil, Chile, Cuba, and Perú.
Despite the challenge, the project helped the children learn the joy of expressing themselves through art. It was the first time they got to paint on a wall, after much practice on small paper sheets. Andy Son added the first sketch and the kids filled it in with color, with Andy adding the final touches.
The initiative was organized by Teleamazonas TV, with a vision of supporting inclusion in art. With the completion of this mural, passersby will now be able to enjoy a canvas painted with joy, thanks to the effort of these unique children.
The project ended with a local choir of blind people performing Notas de Luz to celebrate the completion of the mural.
Santiago Ciudad Galeria by Stanley Gonczanski Arrives in Chile
Starting Monday, February 22nd, the visual artist, filmmaker, and publicist Stanley Gonczanski will present his exhibition “Santiago Ciudad Galería,” an urban intervention of digital collage works on advertising posters distributed throughout different neighborhoods of Santiago de Chile. The exhibition plans to deliver a contribution of beauty and charm to the streets, after experiencing great success in Buenos Aires last year.
In an unprecedented alliance with the company Global, which manages various advertising spaces throughout Santiago de Chile. Stanley Gonczanski’s works will be part of an initiative that transforms those screens that are already part of the urban landscape into something more friendly.
Santiago Ciudad Galería was created to provide spaces of creativity and art to the common citizen through Stanley’s Almost Classic Collection, works that propose a reinvention with wit and satire. In his collection, Stanley takes iconic works from the Renaissance up to the 19th century and gives them a modern twist in order to reflect on what is happening to us as a society right now.
As mentioned above, the urban intervention already took place last year in Stanley’s hometown, Buenos Aires, where they included posters at 14 stations, this time however, the range has increased for a total of 66 stations in 12 communes.
Stanley Gonczanski’s international career has included exhibitions in London, Florence, Santiago de Chile, Miami, Dubai, and Taipei, and now in Santiago de Chile where his urban art gallery will offer subtle humor and powerful irony.
Mon Laferte Adds Two New Murals to Her First Outdoor Exhibition in Valparaiso
Mon Laferte is in Chile to hold her first outdoor art exhibition with a number of new murals created for the occasion. The exhibition, called “Procesión: Pinturas de Mon Laferte,” will be held in conjunction with the Bahía Utópica art gallery from February 15th to March 12th.
In recent days, Mon Laferte revealed that she painted one of the murals in Cerro Alegre de Valparaíso and documented the process on her Instagram account.
Her first painting is entitled “Día Uno” and shows a naked woman accompanied by figures in red and yellow tones with a blue background. The work, according to the artist, portrays the female menstrual cycle incorporating intimate and devotional elements in the melancholic gaze of the characters. The painting has caused great annoyance in the Ministery of Culture, Arts and Heritage of Valparaíso, who described the painting as “a selfish manifestation” and worthy of a fine since it hadn’t received an official permit. On his part, the mayor of Valparaiso applauded the artist and stated he was looking forward to more paintings by this artist. Mon Laferte took the opportunity to talk about the really important issues that the country is facing and that authorities should be focusing on, highlighting police brutality.
Her other mural is titled “Por favor,” and the artist explained that the idea was to support a national organization for the preservation of oceans, Océana Chile, the painting works as a call to action to limit single-use plastics.
The Latin Grammy Award winner has worked in painting since she was 10 years old and has developed her unique self-taught style. She previously exhibited her work in Mexico City where she opened an art gallery, and now in Valparaíso, with her open-air mural collection.
Rundontwalk (Fede Minuchín) (Tester Mariano)
Rundontwalk is an urban art collective born in the city of Buenos Aires in 2001. At the time it was one of the first artistic collectives to paint amid the economic crisis. At the center of Rundontwalk were Tester Mariano (commonly known as just Tester) and Fede Minuchín (also, just known as Minucha), although as of now, only Fede remains as a representative of the group. The 2001 crisis was fertile ground for stencil users in Buenos Aires since many Argentinian artists opted to leave the country in search of better opportunities, however, they eventually returned bringing new experiences related to street art and stencil techniques, driving the start of many graffiti groups.
As a collective, Rundontwalk slowly expanded their experimentation with stencil techniques while continuing to paint small and large works. The members who currently belong to the group are some of the most prominent and active exponents of this technique in the urban art space. Since their beginnings, they have traveled the world painting, teaching, participating in group shows, festivals, workshops, and collaborating on projects with other artists.
Their work tends to be a mix of surrealism with punk and raw style, their messages are many but a touch of satire can be seen guiding their work. Additionally, they have many murals with animals as the protagonists, drawn with stencils accompanied by colorful and psychedelic backgrounds and shapes.
Both Fede and Tester have Instagram accounts where they post the projects they are working on, and you can follow them here: www.instagram.com/fede_rundontwalk/ and www.instagram.com/testermariano/.
Sebastián Oyarbide (Seba Cener)
Sebastián Oyarbide is a native of the Argentinian city of Tandil, and ten years ago he ventured into the world of street art. Known under the pseudonym “Seba Cener,” he has painted murals not only in various provinces of Argentina, but also in other countries such as the United States, Brazil, Perú, and Chile.
Sebastián started his career, like many of the most recognized street artists, by writing without permission on walls, blinds, or even on neighboring balconies. Those acts got him into trouble many times, with the property owners making him clean his work afterward. He eventually realized that the graffiti he made could be covered with something cooler and more aesthetically pleasing, so he started to lean more towards professional styles. Seba kept practicing for years in a self-taught manner, and now, focuses more on painting murals rather than works on a small scale. He has become so adept at muralism that he has been quoted as saying it takes him 10 times longer to complete a painting on an A4 sheet than to create a large mural.
His style can be characterized mainly by a connection to naturalism, often having detailed human faces as the protagonists of his paintings, although other parts of the body are also employed with the same detailed style. Additionally, he is known to include themes such as feminism, homosexuality, adoption, and disability in his paintings.
Saba Cener regularly updates the status of his works through Instagram @sebacener, as well as on his official website en.sebacener.com.