For greater than a decade, French artists Louis Boidron and Édouard Egea have been collaborating as MonkeyBird (beforehand). The pair are recognized for his or her large-scale stenciled murals wealthy with symbolism, architectural constructions, and elaborate motifs, a lot of which attain for timeless themes associated to human emotion, expertise, and the inevitability of change.
“The Arch of Peace” is one in every of their most up-to-date items and transforms the facade of an Aarhus constructing right into a monumental homage to peace and justice. Commissioned for the 17 Partitions Undertaking, the mural attracts on one of many United Nation’s Sustainable Growth Objectives to create a extra inclusive and resilient future.
“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose origins lie in France, served as our central inspiration,” the artists shared. “We reinterpreted the ornamental framework of the original engraving: angels, arches, and colonnades symbolize the moral pillars essential for stability in a constantly changing world.”
As is typical in a MonkeyBird mural, two anthropomorphized creatures donning robes stand on the middle of the composition, guarding a library based mostly on that of Trinity School Dublin. “Their attributes of power and intellect take on true meaning only when guided by reason and ethics,” the artists add.
Equally mythic and majestic figures seem in a pair of murals in Fontainebleau and Metz, France, the latter of which options an avian creature holding an hourglass excessive within the air. Titled “Le Présage,” or “The Omen,” the piece immediately factors to the artist’s curiosity within the passage of time and collapsing the boundaries between previous, current, and future.
In February, the pair will be part of the Montgomery Artwork Undertaking in Alabama to create a mural and immersive set up of their papercuts. Should you’re native, preserve a watch out for alternatives to take part in one in every of MonkeyBird’s workshops, which is able to interact the neighborhood in chopping their stencils and creating public paste-ups. Till then, decide up a print in their store, and observe their newest initiatives on Instagram.
