¡Y viva España!

This year, Mural Festival will welcome a trio of Spanish artists : Nuria Mora, Ricardo Cavolo and Ruben Sanchez. It isn’t the first time that Mural offers our walls to artists from the Iberian peninsula.

We should remember the hommage to homelessness by Axel Void (2015), the political satire of Escif (2013) and the linear abstraction of Felipe Pantone (2016).

© Nickie Robinson

© Nickie Robinson

Mural loves the artists from the Spanish scene. It is very understandable as it is a prolific source in constant evolution. Not surprising with an important artistic legacy such as Francisco Goya, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro or Salvador Dali whom all contributed to changing Art History.

The walls of cities in Spain are an appreciated playing ground for artists from all over the world. More and more festivals are competing to attract them such as Asalto (Zaragoza), Bloop (Ibiza), M.I.A.U. (Fanzara), Graffitea (Valence), Meeting of Styles (Madrid)

For decades now, the country has been creating renowned and talented artists. Coming from different backgrounds and using various techniques, most of them have a very vibrant and colourful style.

Here are a few names, to add to the ones already mentioned, that you should know about as they are an important part of the international scene : Borondo, Btoy, Deih, El Pez, Hyuro, PichiAvo and Sabek.

Now let’s take a closer look to what we can expect from this year’s artists.

Ladies first, let’s start with Nuria Mora. This artist born and raised in Madrid not only creates murales but also paints on canvases, does sculptures as well as visual and audible installations. She already exhibited in Montreal in 2015 as part of a collaboration with Miss Van at ArtGang Gallery. We can expect a mural with very colourful geometric shapes, a style she is known for.

© Nuria Mora

Her very meticulous style can be described as abstraction, elegance, precision and integration of the surrounding architecture. Nuria also adds floral elements to some of her work. It will be very interesting to see what she has in store for us.

© Nuria Mora

Ruben Sanchez is also born in Spain and started his career in Barcelona, though he now lives and works in Dubai. He is very active in the Middle East, especially in Jordan, Turkey and the Syrian border.

© Ruben Sanchez

If the artist is also a fan of abstraction, his style is quite different. Coming from the graffiti and skateboard scene, he integrates a very current graphic design to his cubism heritage, all of it enhanced with some tribal elements. The result is often colourful and often quite amusing.

© Ruben Sanchez

Last but not least is Ricardo Cavolo. Ricardo is well known by the Montreal public for his collaboration with Kaytranada. It will be his second participation at Mural Festival. In 2013, he created a piece on St-Laurent street as well as an ephemeral mural on the René-Lévesque boulevard.

© Nickie Robinson

© LNDMRK

The artist, now based in Barcelona also visited Montreal in 2014 for a solo show at the Station 16 gallery, ” Gol, Carajo!”.

© Nickie Robinson

It is thus for likely Mr Cavolo will offer us a very colourful mural in the Naive style we know him for.

This fifth edition of Mural will bring back another Spanish artist. Yes a fourth one! Indeed, Felipe Pantone, who participated in last year’s edition, will have a solo show at the Station 16 gallery throughout the duration of the Festival.

© Station 16

Wishing you a happy Festival and ¡Y viva España!

To follow their work: Nuria Mora | Ruben Sanchez | Ricardo Cavolo | Felipe Pantone