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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
Spanish street artist Gonzalo Borondo, who typically goes by his last name alone, paints expressionistic portraits on unusual surfaces. The street artist creates his work with the surrounding environment in mind, his paintings responding to the architecture on which they are rendered. Borondo's solo show "Animal" opens at RexRomae Gallery in London on February 5 and features new paintings as well as installation and hand-painted animations. For the exhibition, Borondo said he investigated man's tendency to control his environment so as to distract himself from his animalistic nature and, ultimately, his mortality.
A far cry from the tight, linear style of graffiti, Borondo's murals utilize sweeping, expressive brushstrokes that demonstrate little restraint. The artist is unafraid of dripping paint, thickly slabbing earth tone hues on walls for his contemplative portraiture. Based in Spain, Borondo recently painted a string of murals in London. "Narcissus," put up on the edge of a canal, cleverly makes use of the wall's reflection in the water. Narcissus, after all, was the young man who couldn't get enough of his own image. "Cheese" (pictured above) offers a political commentary, whether one takes the shackles as a metaphor or a literal allusion to events in recent history. Photographer and filmmaker Fabiano Caputo followed Borondo's journey through the British capital and captured his murals in several time lapse videos in addition to the photos. Check them out after the jump.