While firewalls provide a security function for architects, street artists look at them like giant canvases. These are the most grandiose works of the diverse genre of street art, they can take an imaginative piece of life to boring streets, be mocking, critical, or a memorial for an important person or event. In our selection today, we will show you our favorite giant paintings from the streets of Eastern Europe!
Chopin Wall in Warsaw
The mural designed by Marcin Urbanek was born in 2010 on the occasion of the two hundredth birthday of Warsaw’s favorite composer. In addition to the story of his life, the painting also reveals important people and objects related to him, such as George Sand, Napoléon Bonaparte, or an asteroid named in his honor.
Sightseeing crossword in Lviv
The largest crossword puzzle in Ukraine, located in Lviv, is on the side of a residential building thirty meters high and eighteen meters wide. A copy of the crossword puzzle can be obtained at several points in the city if you want to solve it. The solution invites you to explore the city, as Lviv’s sights, such as theaters, museums and monuments, are hidden in each line. How do you know if you answered correctly? At night, thanks to the fluorescent dye, the right answers appear.
Air purifying mural in Budapest
The newest wall painting of five hundred square meters in Budapest, located at 35 Dob Street, was implemented within the framework of the Converse City Forests program. László Brunkszó’s plans were carried out on the wall by the Neopaint team, with special paint. Developed by NASA, the breathable paint is able to filter out harmful substances from the air, so every square meter of the painting works as an air purifier of a tree, and the graphics also fit the theme. “I wanted to create a fairytale world in which the brave protagonist faces hardship and embarks on dizzying heights of dangerous insecurity. What the goal is or whether they will overcome the difficulties is left to everyone’s own imagination,” says the designer.
Bohumil Hrabal and his beloved cats in Prague
Tatjana Svatošová has created a collage of more than three hundred square meters depicting the life of the iconic Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal. Hrabal’s most famous works, his typewriter and his favorite cats also come to life on the wall.
Portrait of Serhiy Nigoyan in Kyiv
The work of Portuguese artist Alexandre Farto, also known as Vhils, commemorates the most famous activist of the Euromaidan demonstrations, Serhiy Nigoyan. Nigoyan was the first victim of anti-government protests, thus becoming a symbol of the Ukrainian revolution. The work is unique not only because of its theme, but also because of its technique, which has become a trademark of the artist: Vhils did not paint the portrait, but drew it on the wall of the building by rubbing the plaster off.
Sources: In Your Pocket, Atlas Obscura, Kreatív, Prague.eu
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