Graffiti Art and Animation by Blu
May 14, 2008

A 28yr old painter from Bologna, Italy, goes by the alias “Blu.”
He has recently emerged in the world of international public street-art.

Blu sets himself apart from fellow graffiti artists with his aesthetic of using black outlines filled with white paint, often with little use of color.

But what interests me most is the way he juxtaposes his street art into slightly creepy, but amazing animations. His latest video animation, Muto: An Ambiguous Animation Painted on Public Walls, was made in Buenos Aires and Baden.


MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.
(The soundtrack for the animation is by Andrea Martignoni)

I discovered the work of Blu today while thumbing through the June 2008 issue of Print magazine. Blu is one of 12 illustrators featured in their article Drawn Together: Conversations with 12 Exceptional European Illustrators.



The Print feature includes one spread devoted to Blu. Here’s an interesting excerpt from the interview (but I recommend purchasing the issue as there is plenty more):

Q: What do you like most about drawing and painting?

A: “Painting in  public spaces is a really interesting social experience. What I like most is not the piece itself, but people’s reaction, and how the piece is being digested by the city. At the beginning, it is something new: It can be pleasant or distrubing, depending on the point of view. Then, with time, it becomes part of everyday life, and it can take on an old, familiar flavor, like those old, rusted billboards or advertising murals, forgotten in the corners of our cities.” —Blu

(credit for top image: Planet Prozess, Berlin © Blu 2007, bottom image: Comacchio, Italy, © Blu 2006)

Link:  blublu.org

Tags:  animation, art, graffiti, illustration, painting

Topic:

Animation