I already praised the gorgeous city of Lyon some time ago. The beauty of this city continues to mesmerize me each time that I go there. French classic architecture, the imposing Rhone, the lovely Saone, the hills and their viewpoints (la croix-rousse is such a cute quartier), the "grandour" of Tete d'Or, the smart urban planning, pieces of modernity like the Tour Incity and Confluences... There are so many things to appreciate that I think they managed to distract my attention from an element that in other cities would have caught my eye quite earlier, the amazing mural paintings.
In first term I would not think of Lyon as a hotspot for Street Art, but indeed it is, as it boasts a huge number of astonishing mural paintings. In general these murals follow a more classic style, so I've had some problems to associate them with street art (mainly cause I've usually been more dragged to less conventional works like those of Blu, ROA, Hendrik Beikirch), but classifying something as street art has little to do with the style, but with the intent. Putting up art on the street for others to enjoy (get moved, awakened...) for free is the essence of Street Art, and these mural paintings obviously adhere to it.
In my last visit to Lyon I got delighted by the massive Mur des canuts. It's just beautiful. The explanation given here is pretty complete, so I will not repeat it with different words. I will add one thing that really fascinated me. As the article explains, this piece of art has been redone on 3 occasions. Well, it has evolved, treated as a live scene. The portion of neighbourhood depicted in this work has evolved over time, new shops have opened, the building facades have got revamped and vegetalized... but most importantly, the different characters that appeared in the first installment have also evolved with time, not just by getting smartphones or other modern elements, but by growing, getting older... I'm not sure about the particular changes, but one could think that maybe someone that in the first version was a kid in the second one would have turned into a teenager and in the third into a "family guy". For the occasional visitor this will not have much effect, but for those that have lived with this painting for years, it makes it a living element of their lives.
Sorry for the low quality, I took the pics at night, and I quite don't like using a flash:
Most of these amazing mural paintings have been created by the artists collective Cité-creation. Visit their website, it's just amazing. In this article there is a good overview of their creative path. Reading this paragraph below brings to my mind the words of wisdom written by Banksy 3 decades later in "Wall and pice"
In the early 1970s a group of local students got to discussing the closed nature of the art world, concluding that art was a form or expression largely confined to galleries and museums. Murals, they decided, would bring art to ordinary people. They would be direct, effective in portraying ideas, and free.
Much of the mural work in Lyon follows the Trompe-l'œil technique, trying, very successfully in many occasions, to create a 3-D effect that when seen from a distance really makes you think that you are seeing real buildings rather than a painting. In that sense, this one in Montpellier continues to amaze me each time I pose my eyes on it
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