Street Art Cities

 World-renowned Spanish artist Zesar Bahamonte sought out the tranquility of Schoonderbuken in Scherpenheuvel to create a stunning new street art piece. It is an honor that I can realize this work of art in Belgium," says Zesar. With this street art work, he wants to connect the residents of Scherpenheuvel regardless of origin, religion, skin color, political affiliation and culture. A color palette of diverse identities thus forms a very interesting canvas.

Leuven's artist collective Treepack and the city of Scherpenheuvel have worked together several times in recent years to bring more art to the streets. The project was kicked off a few years ago with 't Voske, a mural by local talent Tuzq, after which well-known artists from abroad followed and also brought some more color around Scherpenheuvel. Meanwhile, the city's portfolio is expanding and the next mural by a street art major is already in the planning stages. The works of Tellas, Lucia Biancalana, Tuzq and Zesar Bahamonte, among others, make the town of Scherpenheuvel a real open-air museum

This past week it was time for the Sint-Jozef School at Schoonderbuken to also be taken in hand by the internationally renowned artist Zesar Bahamonte. This creative jack-of-all-trades wants to connect the residents of Scherpenheuvel, a perfect match with the artist, the location and its surroundings. The starting point for this work was the theme of society and the relationship between different people, an important theme that forms the guideline for the artist's oeuvre.

Zesar starts from the fact of individualism. When we as humans go through life alone we take a symbolic color palette with us. The artist believes that each person builds up a range of color variations based on experiences, feelings and personal conviction.

'When we join forces and come together with other people, in relationships of love, work or any situation in life, we create an interplay of these color palettes and we can discover new dimensions and colors. Therefore, the work is characterized by a layering that reveals new insights. ' Zesar proudly tells about his artwork.

By projecting this theme onto an elementary school, the artist also wants to inspire the youngest spectators among us in a social society and let them dream about their future. It has long been clear that street art increases social cohesion between residents and can work as an inspiration for the youngest among us.

On the artwork you can see different characters in a simple but timeless color palette. This is a conscious choice of the artist. 'The color transparency creates the coming together of the different identities' it reads. The formal aspect of the artwork shows characters from different angles. This symbolism runs parallel to the great diversity in our society. Think of origin, religion, political affiliation, culture, etc... Everyone defines their own direction.'