Gods of art

Graffiti and classical art fused by Spanish duo

TWO Spanish graffiti artists have built up an international reputation for creating murals of the ancient Greek gods on large high-rise buildings across the world.

The eye-catching works seamlessly combine modern artistic sensibilities with the ancient Greek mythological world. PichiAvo have been described

EUROPE’S largest vertical mural, on Spain’s south coast, is just weeks away from completion. Covering over 6,000 square metres, Les Rivages de Almuñecar, by artist Jose Ríos, is being painted on three 12-storey buildings.

The mural depicts a figure of a dog walking on the beach, the silhouette of a woman and the

Bonus success

SPAIN'S Youth Cultural Bonus for 2022, which provides €400 per head to invest in culture to young people who reach 18 years, has distributed more than €37.5 million since it started being issued last October.

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By Alex Trelinski

as being ‘among the most prominent street artists on the current urban art scene’.

Pichi and Avo trained in Fine Art and Design and met on the graffiti art scene in Valencia before becoming a duo in 2007.

Tall order

waves of the sea and the golden sand. Its conception was to convey a sense of transparency and disguise the tower blocks on which it is painted.

It will be viewable in all its glory in the town of Almuñecar,

CLASSIC GRAFFITI:

From that moment they worked on developing joint projects, pursuing an unremitting search for a style of their own in fusion of graffiti and classical art.

Recently the pair completed stylized graffiti murals of the Greek gods and subjects from Greek Mythology in Spain and Canada, and also recently took part in the 2023 Mural Festival in Montreal.

In Spain, they have finished a mural in Merida, Extremadura, near to the city's famous Roman Hippodrome, once used for horse and chariot racing. Commenting on the new mural, PichiAvo said: “We painted a new version of the Venus del Mitreo which is exhibited in the Museo Nacional del Arte Romano also located in Merida.”

“It involved reconstructing the bust inspired by the Syra- cuse-type Venus from the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, since we found the similarity between the two works very fruitful,” they commented.

The synergy between classical art and graffiti can be seen in their many murals of the ancient Greek gods that combine contemporary street art with the sensibilities of the ancient world.

Some 277,754 people who turned 18 during the qualifying period for the 2022 Bonus applied for the money - around half of those who were eligible to do so. People who celebrate their 18th birthday this year can now apply for the 2023 grant with a closing date of September 30.