Argentinian artist Francisco Díaz aka Pastel is currently in Oslo, Norway invited by the guys from Urban Samtidskunst for the project Områdeløft Tøyen (Revitalizing Tøyen).
The idea behind the mural was born by the fact that the Tøyen Botanical Garden is located right behind the wall. A wonderful place containing flora from all over the world, adapted to survive in this particular place.
Next to the wall lives Nelu, a 54 years old guy from Romania that arrived to Oslo many years ago as a refugee, According to Pastel, Nelu stands every day at the entrance of the Tøyen metro station located nearby the wall. Both Nelu and Pastel spent most of the day in that space, a situation that the artist compares to what he calls “immigrant plants” and the conditions in which they are acclimatized.
As we can see this new mural by Pastel follows the same structure and imagery we are used to find in the rest of his work; local flora that relates to the surroundings, its history and the many stories from the places he visits.
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.
