Contorno Urbano, the first Foundation in Spain to be fully dedicated to street art and graffiti, invited artist Iker Muro to paint a mural as part of their project Project 12+1, urban art in l’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
12+1 is an open-air art gallery, one which changes each month. The project will see twelve artists over twelve months, cover one fifty square metre wall, one artistic intervention per month and one final exhibition, presenting each of the artists’ unique work.
This months artist is MurOne, Iker Muro, who is a is illustrator and graphic designer. MurOne started to paint walls in 2002, and admits that murals have been replacing his computer work. MurOne has painted and had exhibitions in many cities worldwide, such as San Antonio (Texas), New York, London, Lisbon, Miami and Berlin.
MurOne describes his work as an acid mix of pop and design elements. He admits influences as classical as Dalí, Mati Klarwein, Lichtenstein, Mc Escher, Moebious… and also admiration for masters in typography as Tony Dispigna or Herb Lubalin. He recognizes that a list of the influences of contemporaneous mural painters would be endless.
MurOne’s fresh new mural is called “Video Games” and acts as a reminder of the video games played from the 90’s, with psychedelic mixtures and patterns as camouflaged of the city of the future.
“Travelling and discovering different cultures is a gift, I feel lucky to make my living with what I love, I don’t know what will happen in the future, I don’t have a job and a stable life, but painting and giving life to places that don’t have any is very gratifying. I’m happy while I’m doing it and when I finish, I enjoy the whole process, I put together while I’m improving the mural and this is driving me mad. My way of working is many times without a defined sketch but if I win I progress and if I progress I’m happy.” MurOne
The 12+1 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.
Photo Credit Clara Antón