Axel Void is another renowned artist currently participating of the Cities of Hope project in Manchester, England for which he painted this amazing mural titled ‘Sisyphus’.
The new piece is according to the artist part of his “Gray” series and based on the legend of Sisyphus, a king part of the Greek mythology. Axel void explains that Sisyphus was punished by Zeus to roll a boulder up a hill and watch it roll back down, repeating this action for eternity. Albert Camus in 1942 wrote “The Myth of Sisyphus” where he related this punishment to the human condition in the absurd search for meaning. This mural talks about this condition from an existentialist approach. The image portrays a girl having a smile forced by someone’s hands. This proposes a metaphor to the pursuit of happiness and who we are as people. Our redundant ways, throughout history and presently, of masking this futile search.
“Every time a man is begotten and born the clock of human life is wound up anew, to repeat once more its same old tune that has already been played out innumerable times, movement by movement and measure by measure, with insignificant variations” – Arthur Schopenhauer.
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.
