Before heading to the north of Norway for the UpNorth festival in Røst, Argentinian street artist Francisco Díaz aka Pastel stopped by Paris where he painted “Aster et symphorine”, a mural is located in the 14ème arrondissement, on the facade of a building surrounded by “La petite ceinture”, an old dismissed bounding rail built in 1852 for load trains around the area.
During the 30´s the city of Paris decided to close the rails due to population growth and the dynamic complexity in urban terms of keeping such a solid border. Abandoned, nature started to take prominence renewing the landscape’s identity.
Francisco M Diaz is a painter and architect, living and working in Buenos Aires, Argentina who sees his work as “urban acupuncture” trying to establish a dialogue within the city.
For him modern cities are full of “Non-places” because of irregular and not inclusive planning. Paintings represent then a kickstart for some of these places, working on the local identity and not being another tool of social gentrification.
His work is based on experiences gathered from the places he visits trying to always understand the conditions that the environment offers and not just imposing a preconceived idea of the space.
“Working with flora as social symbolism, the pieces begin a dialogue about the nature of man and his surroundings. The existential, real, pure and tragic, almost forgotten in modern society.”
More about Pastel on website | instagram
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.
