We came across this family while looking for walls in the Syrian border, close to Za'atari refugee camp.
I totally fell in love with them, they didn’t stop joking and laughing their ass off for a second, so we decided to spend the day with them. We played a lot, we had tea and coffee and also we painted their half-destroyed house with the help of the kids.
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.
My homie Edu lent me his macro lens telling me “tienes que tirar fotos a tus movidas con esto, ya verás como te mola…” (you gotta shoot your stuff with this, you’re gonna love it..)
After some weeks getting dust in my desk, I decided to use it.
It’s amazing to see the different textures:
01: 150x170cm spray on canvas
02: 150x170cm spray on canvas
03: Custom money note
04 & 06: Acrylic on recycled wood
05: Keyboard
07-09: Sketchbook
Thanks bro, you were right.
You don’t have this kind of visits every day… Half man-half bird-full legend, Mr. Tony Hawk
Bonnie & Clyde
No matter what wood was before, it can be whatever you want. Even a reproductive system.
Aparato Reproductor. Acrylic on recycled wood 45x105cm. Dubai, 2013
Behind every great man is a crazy woman.
Dubai 2013
The Mission of the Minotaur is about the skateboarding seed that is growing up in Dubai through the effort of a bunch of people in Tashkeel, mainly Lateefa and Brad, the guy who sees this wall everyday now.
Typing different egos
There is no day without night. Coming up!
Cover design for Super Spanish Combo, my homies band. Vinyl exists!
Check out some of their tunes here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEXScP4wNbc&feature=relmfu
Some notebook drawings from past and present.
Combo piece with photographer Gaston Francisco for the Ojo X Ojo exhibition in Paris.
If you skate some of this sentences will sound familiar to you: “Put your pants up”, “Aren’t you big enough?”, “Can I have your ID please?” etc…
This kind of bullshit is what you have to leave behind when you push a skateboard. This one is dedicated to all of you sons of asphalt!
Interview for The Hub Magazine. You can read it online here:
Logo for Staf Magazine’s monthly FB cover
El que tiene un amigo tiene un pedrolo. This basically means: Who got a friend got a diamond. Playing with acrylics over paper
Asturias is amazing. Unforgettable surf trip with friends.
Ciudadanos aleatorios, acrylics on paper.
Masai // Tiwi // Canamari
Acrílicos y papel. Dedicated to all those tribes which are in serious danger due to our human stupidity.
Girl. Madrid 2011