Street Art ~ the Beikirch Mural in Rabat

Recently the German street artist Hendrik Beikirch painted the final wall of his "tracing Morocco" series, in Rabat, Morocco. “Najma” is the title of this 115 x 50 ft tall mural in the Rabat. The artist used emulsion and spray paint of Montana black, on a concrete surface

A Project by Beikirch and Montresso Art Foundation for the Mohamed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.

Photo of work in progress: Fabrice Gino

"An aesthetic vision that couples painterly sensibility with the techniques of photorealism"

From the artist's website

Photocredit: Nils-Mueller

Looming large in the post-industrial cityscape, Beikirch’s documentary works are studies in humanity. Responding to cultural shifts in the perception of beauty brought about by the ubiquitous presence of digital media, Beikirch rejects the sleek youthfulness that predominates in modern visual culture in favour of an aesthetic vision that couples painterly sensibility with the techniques of photorealism. The world-weariness, grit, and cautious optimism of his subjects imbue these works with a sense of the familiar. there is something reassuring to be found in the melancholy that radiates from these faces.

Beikirch’s murals are not so much interventions in the urban landscape as they are our silent companions, reminders of our common humanity and representations of both actual individuals and the diverse populations of the modern city. roadside shadows, they command our attention; at times melancholic, other times brusque in their sensibility. The subjects of his fictional works are inspired by his imagination and do not adhere to human proportions, instead they are distorted, fragmented and subtly surreal in appearance. Questioning both their surroundings and the conventions of portraiture, these works share the hyperrealist aesthetics of his documentary work, while employing skewed perspectives to accentuate the image and its character.

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