Remember that amazing kinetic sculpture by Barcelona-based artist Elbi Elem she created at the end of 2016? Well, she was recently featured artist of the month at the 12+1 Urban Art Project at L’Hospitalet de Llobregat afor which she created this stunning mural.
Titled “The Ring” and not unlike her kinetic sculptures and other 2D and 3D work, the new mural follows Elbi Elem’s obsession with movement and balance, where an interplay of curves, lines and 2D planes create a dynamic and balanced composition, adding that little touch of 3 dimensionality given by the continuation of the ring on the upper part of the mural. According to Elbi Elem the idea was to do something she had never done before:
“I proposed myself as a personal exercise use the architecture, elements and colours that surround the wall, integrate it in the environment, and break with the rectangle as the space to intervened. I continued the ring giving form to a flexible tube attached to the railing, this way the space grew and transformed. The railing can be understood as a stairway or the same railroad track also.The composition is directed from a point of view where using the perspective, the lines of the buildings and adjacent walls, the railing, the cables of the train and the floor, enter in the wall extending, forming a visual circuit across it with the movement of these and finally takes you to the train that passes constantly. An important piece in the intervention as it symbolizes traveling, moving forward, and movement.” – Elbi Elem
The result, is a stunning mural full of Elbi Elem’s magic. Have a look at the images below and judge yourself. And hey! feel free to leave a comment if you like! I would love to hear from you.
Images © Clara Antón
The project 12+1:
12+1 is a proposal put forward by Contorno Urbano, a socially minded artistic association:
12 artists, 12 months, one 50 square metre wall, one artistic
intervention per month and one final exhibition, presenting each of the artists’ unique work.
12+1 is an open-air art gallery, one which changes each month. A unique vision which problematises the way we exhibit urban art, and the place of these artworks in the city.
The project aims to create a space for open dialogue in the city with the highest population density in Europe, in an area which sees over 7000 passers-by each day.
You can find the wall at Calle Rosalía de Castro, just opposite the L1 metro exit for Torrassa, in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona.
Winner artists for 12+1 this year:
Roc Blackblock, Murone, Hosh, Miedo 12, BYG, Irene López León, Pati Baztan, Laura Lanelli, Elbi Elem, Fernando León, Edjinn, Miquel Wert.
About Contorno Urbano
Contorno Urbano is a cultural association based in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat which aims to properly integrate urban art and graffiti into the cultural life of the city, to spread artistic knowledge, to improve the city’s social fabric and ultimately people’s lives. Contorno Urbano works in collaboration with local institutions, businesses, and cultural mediators. The team has over 10 years’ experience in murals and urban art dissemination, as well as having worked on an international project.
Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
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.
