Feeling nostalgic today, 90′s letters in technicolor for a cloudy day.

My friend Ramy, from INGcreatives is a stubborn guy.
He sees this wall everyday from his apartment and from his office too.
Ramy’s been trying to get this wall painted by an artist for over a year, and he didn’t stop until he finally got it.

I’m happy that I was the artist he had in mind once he got the permission, I’ve seen no walls like this before in Dubai, it was quite a exciting project.

We wanted to keep it all independent since the beginning, no branding, no events, no posing. Just art in a wall, but we needed some support.

INGcreatives managed to get it all organized and they even created a casual venue where people stopped by to see the progress of the wall, to chill with us and get some information about the project. Concordia, the company who runs the area, provided a cherry picker and some dirhams to buy the paint and Sam gave us a good price on the spray paint.

Everybody did their best to support this project expecting nothing in exchange. Thank you all. And then I just provided my work.

So yeah, this has been a project free of charge, just for the community. I hope you enjoy it.

photo credits to Diego and Ramy

Dissection of Tozudez.
Acrylic on reclaimed materials. 180x120cm.
2014

Found a big wall in the heart of Istanbul, perfect spot.
We bought a cheap ladder and some paint.

Döner Head!

Facebook contacted me to paint a wall in their brand new Middle East offices in a flashy 40th floor of a building in Media City, Dubai.
I made this artwork before the official opening, and it is a big mosaic of characters representing connectivity, islamic culture and what I really think of Facebook.

As usual, you meet interesting people while sharing endless nocturnal hours on spray fumes like Richard (or Ricardo), a security guard from Filipinas with an artist soul, he played some classic r'n'r tunes on my lil guitar while I was painting, we did some amazing duets like ‘The house of the rising sun’ and he also paints some impressionist art on his day off. Or CobraSnake (I never understood his real name), a cleaner from India who has two girlfriends, two of the guettoest tattoos I’ve ever seen and doesn’t eat things that make ’mooooooo’ or ’eeeeeick’ according to his religion.

Urban Bistro is one of those places hard to find in Dubai where you can have an amazing breakfast, read a book, meet you friends or send some emails feeling like you’re at home. They are good people.

They invited me to paint their ceiling, I’ve never did that before so I say “Sure, no problem” right before start thinking how the hell I was going to do it.

I’ve used a scaffolding, 8 or 9 big white markers, good music and the occasional support of Ahmed, the security guy and his crazy pakistani distort songs from his guetto phone, thanks homie.

Freehand, no sketches.

John Conn photography. NYC Subway

Orange and lemon juice in Satwa, Dubai.

In the Dubai of shiny skyscrapers and diamonds, there’s barely graffiti.
You may find some Arcadia Blank intense quotes in the most unexpected corners of the city, or maybe some Sya and Bow pieces in walls, mostly indoors or in events. You could even find my murals at Jumeirah Beach road and Al Bastakiya for example, but if you look in depth you can find an interesting graff movement walking around the slums of this city, like Karama, Satwa or Deira, where most of the inmigrants from India or Pakistan live.
Guetto tags and throw-ups, quotes in arab/english/god knows and funny drawings of jesus-looking characters smoking something are some of the things you may find exploring the b-side of Dubai.

Astral Breakfast.

Last mission in Barcelona, back to Dubai…

Squeezed, just like my country is.

Otro día más en la oficina

Mission accomplished.
One of my goals during my year of residency in Tashkeel was to paint a mural in the streets of Dubai.
In any other country, everything probably would have been easier but here graffiti or street art or whatever is heavily punished, actually I think this is the first and only mural that exists in the UAE (someone correct me if I’m wrong).

The process has not been easy. Since consequences of being busted painting here are no joke (and you need more than 10 minutes to paint this, set up a cherry picker, etc) you need a permission.
So after locating the spot by Jumeirah Beach Road (Anna!) we had to talk with the owner of the building, who luckily was open for the project since the first moment. Then with his ok, the Tashkeel crew were struggling with Dubai authorities day by day until we finally got their OK a few months later.

Keeping in mind that sedentary lifestyle is a big issue in this city, as well as the crazy unsustainability that involves most of its massive projects, I wanted this artwork, a local guy riding a bicicamel instead of a polluting car, while eating some healthy stuff, to be a wake up call for simplicity and sustainability to all the people living here (applicable to hundreds of other countries). I’m not really expecting any change with this, but that’s the message.

After spending the whole night painting this, I passed by the next day to take some photos and to speak with the neighbors about it (mostly shops and cafeterias). They look excited about it, even though they were kind of reluctant when they saw me painting the first lines. Late night visitors after closing their stores were also rewarded for their support with a quick lift in the cherry picker or with a few shots of spray on his guetto car to hide some scratches.
Now I’m getting free haircuts and lemon-mints on the area.

Big ups to Tashkeel: Bakhita, Haiya and Lateefa. Thanks for your company Jill, Sameena, Khaled and neighbors.

For your information, this is a personal project. There’s no brands nor any kind of payment related to this wall (or any others). Hope you like it Dubai peeps and i hope this will open doors for more public art projects.

Peace out!
R.

As part of the public programme Artscape: Cultures in Dialogue, I created this wall in Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi as part of the Birth of a Museum exhibition public program.

I wanted an unusual wall to gather different artistic elements from different cultures and ages, just like [the Birth of a Museum] exhibition does… making them coexist through the same style and same colors.

If you look closely, you can find elements from the Birth of a Museum exhibition like the Rooster, the Eagle-shaped fibula from Domagnano, The Gyspy by Édouard Manet or the Lion-shaped aquamanile among others.

One last piece before leaving Barcelona, a skateboarder shaman in an abandoned factory.

Me gusta cuando callas porque estas como absenta.
Barcelona 2013

Javier Sarmiento trying to match his griptape face with the curb face via nosebluntslide. Jesus Fernandez approves.

Red + Black + Tashkeel + a clean white wall + Estevan Oriol + guys skating around + David Choe + Dubai + myself + freestyle + a broken light

= amazing evening.