Graffiti and other forms of street art tell our times. In this new journey, I will make you reflect on how street art will save the world from ecological disasters.
Art as an echo of the world: street art denounces the environmental disaster
We imagine planet Earth as a great work of art: a sculpture by Bernini, a painting by Chagall, a poem by De Andrade, a gripping novel by Steele. We are talking about a work of art with a great communicative power, every breath of it conceals a message, more or less clear, which often remains silent. There are those, however, who have welcomed the need to raise the shout of our planet through additional artistic forms. That is, the famous communication process linked to the panic sentiment of l’art pour l’art. To enter the scene are drawings, colors, shapes. Images that teach, capable of transmitting messages, of raising awareness, of denouncing. We are talking specifically about street art, which has been and continues to be faced by many contemporary artists. They aim to undermine the old systems and some of the horrors caused by the deviations of contemporary society.
The denounces of street art
Protection of the environment, once considered an elitist hobby, has now taken hold, becoming one of the most discussed topics in the artistic field. Over the centuries, the world of art has taken on social issues, becoming a means of real denuounce. In recent years, environmental problems have made their way among the artistic circles, which have made it one of the focal points of their civic commitment.
Respect for the environment and art merge, in particular, in street art, that is, the figurative language born in the street. The main purpose of this artistic expression is, in fact, the redevelopment of the suburbs through the embellishment of existing buildings and civic structures. Fighting the grayness of concrete with the vivacity of colors, making cities more beautiful and liveable and at the same time transmitting messages directly, without filters or censorship.
Gola Hundun: who is he?
Environmental degradation, working conditions, injustices, pollution, overbuilding: these are just some examples of issues touched upon in the new era of street art at the service of the Earth. Gola Hundun fully managed to convey all these arguments.
The artist, born in Cesena in 1982, investigates the relationship between humanity and the biosphere in his work.
Even before the artistic apprenticeship at the Liceo Artistico in Ravenna, at the age of twelve he began his activity as a street artist as a graffiti artist with the technique of lettering on the walls of his city, to turn soon, starting from the age of fourteen, to an artistic activity aimed at illustrative and pictorial research. He later enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, where he graduated in 2006.
From 2004 he has moved to Barcelona (where he lives and works) where he was influenced by local artists who work in the field of street art and which led him to resume his original activity as a mural artist. The first decade of the 2000s represents for him a period of research and growth that sees him move between Italy, Spain and all of Europe, until 2010, when he spends a semester of residence in Quebec. From there, his business expands globally, bringing his presence to Brazil (2010), Palestine (2011), Russia and Japan (2012), Kazakhstan (2013) and the U.S.A. (2014).
Gola Hundun collaborated with INWARD for “Venti e Correnti”, an intervention carried out in collaboration with Nomos Value Research, and for the production of “Carpisa Tattoo” with the work ”Il Maestro Dormiente: Get up with a kiss “. He has participated in the collective exhibition “Cinquanta Segnalibri” with the work “01 and 02”. https://www.golahundun.com/
Gola Hundun art
About two months ago, the first of a series of redevelopment interventions in the Romagna municipality of Bellaria-Igea Marina was completed.
The first to embellish the municipality of Rimini with his art was Gola Hundun with his artwork entitled “Reckless action effect”.
Gola Hundun’s work for his hometown is a way to emphasize the link between the world itself and human beings. An artwork that is a real denunciation of the way we treat the environment in which we live.
A bond undermined by the problems we all know well by now, such as: deforestation, climate change, melting of ice and acidification of the oceans.
Gola Hundun, Reckless action effect
On “Reckless action effect” in fact, a coral reef is depicted, full of many species of different flora and fauna. Coral reefs, considered the most diverse and complex forms of life, risk losing their incredible colors due to pollution, but not only that.
The work therefore has a very deep meaning that goes beyond the beautiful colors and even the chosen place is not accidental: where the “Reckless action effect” now stands, previously there was a coastal pine forest, eliminated to make room for the office of the Tourism.
We just have to immerse ourselves in the colors of Gola Hundun, remembering that “Some want to make the world a better place, I just want to make it a more beautiful place. If you don’t like it, you can always paint over it! ” (Banksy)
