Everyone who has passed through Columbus Square These last few days the same question has been asked: what is all this display? are you preparing a concert? a concentration? Is it time to put up the Christmas tree?
And today, finally, we have cleared up doubts: ‘ Earth', the giant luminous sphere installed in the Plaza de Colón in Madrid, it is work of the artist SpY and is part of an incredible contemporary urban exhibition that is already illuminates different locations in the capital.
Until November 6 , four national and international urban artists will install their works in four points of Madrid –located in Colón, Ortega y Gasset, Paseo de la Castellana and Serrano – turning the city into an authentic light exhibition in the open air.
These artists are SpY, Arne Quinze, Diamond Y Manuel Campa and together they make up the sample MINI Electric Art. The works will light up at the step of the 100% electric Mini , which will be open to the public after registering on the website (limited places).
“We are coming out of a reflexive time that demands changes from us”, Spy.
THE 'LAND' OF SpY
Street artist Spy – also known as the “Spanish Banksy” because he keeps his public image a secret – he is the author of 'Tierra', a work made up of two geometric elements that he explains to us: “ a luminous sphere housed inside a cubic structure made with construction scaffolding on a scale of 25 meters high installed”.
His interventions in the form of visual puns can be seen in countries like Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Mexico, the United States or Japan.
“In 'Earth,' I suggest a reflection on our relationship with our home formed as a whole of which we are a part, and in which everything is connected like the great living being that it is ” comments SpY to Condé Nast Traveler.
“Changing weather activity has always existed, and the Earth has always been in constant evolution. As a consequence of human activity , all these changes are happening in a very short period of time with worrying alterations ”, continues the artist from Madrid.
Thus, the installation invites reflect on the effect of human beings on our planet: “We are coming out of a reflexive time that demands changes from us. We must propose dialogues and actions that favor an enhanced collective consciousness with a set of values that turns this situation around”, says SpY.
A luminous sphere takes over the Plaza de Colón in Madrid.
“The challenge belongs to everyone, and we must carry out small individual actions that improve our sense of common responsibility”, concludes SpY, through whose artistic proposal he seeks to invite the public to this reflection and to “enjoy this urban installation where visitors will be surprised by the scale and the light contrast with the city environment”.
'Tierra' is one of the largest pieces that SpY has done to date, but at the same time, it has an incredible visual simplicity: “It is a project that seeks to work with the minimum elements to create a great impact” , he tells Condé Nast Traveler.
His intentions? “Create through art a dialogue and a debate with the public that discovers and visits it” he sentences. “Representations like these they make artists out of citizens, and citizens out of artists; they open up to surprise, encounter, reflection, in a few words, they make art public for the benefit of all”.
urban art is the discipline in which SpY develops most of his projects: “Working in the urban environment offers you a multitude of possibilities because the street is a living entity in itself that is in constant movement and evolution”.
I try to be receptive to dialogue with the city , which has been for years the framework where I have expressed myself and communicated my ideas”, he concludes.
'Tierra', the work of Spy in Columbus.
WORKS, ARTISTS AND LOCATIONS
In addition to 'Tierra', Spy's work located in Colón, the MINI Electric Art exhibition has three more projects, signed by the Belgian painter and sculptor Arne Quinze, the French artist Diamantaire and the Madrilenian Manu Campa.
Arne Quinze was introduced to the graffiti universe in the 1980s and his street art evolved into the public art with a double objective: to turn cities into open-air museums and make the urban environment more human and green: “I have the need to guide our cities towards A better future".
His luminous work 'Chameleon Lupine' is in the Paseo de la Castellana , at the height of number 12 and constitutes a representation of the artist's vision of the lupine flower and an ode to the diversity of nature.
Chameleon Lupine by Arne Quinze.
Diamond has installed his work, 'Placa', in Serrano 70 and presents it as "an invitation to the viewer to plunge into the heart of his curiosity". Since 2011, the French artist has developed a street art project on the diamonds that give him his artistic name – he has some 1,800 works spread all over the world.
The sculptures of him are kaleidoscopes that play with light and the dimension with steel and mirrors, represent the maximum symbol of luxury, the diamond, and are mainly composed of discarded mirrors and spray paint.
'Plaque', by Diamantaire.
Finally, Manuel Campa , a world reference in the painting of car pictures - his work has been exhibited in cities such as Miami, Tokyo, New York, Oxford, Lisbon or Biarritz -, has taken over number 8 of Ortega y Gasset with his work 'Car' , an element that represents the perfect symbiosis between sustainable mobility and the city: “A car reflects its own environment, enhancing it with its presence. A fresh beat for the city.”
'Car', by Manu Campa.
RECOVER THE PULSE OF THE CITY
The exhibition MINI Electric Art, curated by Anna Dimitrova, is a commitment by MINI Spain to culture, art, design and recovering the pulse of life in the city and for this it has MINI-Electric , its most sustainable driving concept.
To participate in the test drive and live the experience of drive the car and discover the different works, You can sign up on the web form. The cars will undergo sanitizing processes for each user who uses it and all the security protocols issued by health authorities.