A woman can be so many things. She can be thoughtful and serene, like a placid lake. She can roar impetuous and ferocious like an ocean caught in turbulent gale winds. She can heal and provide nourishment in the vein of a babbling spring carrying water from mountain peaks down to the desert. A certain grace serves as the common thread throughout her shifting capacities. Argentinian-born street artist Hyuro carries this lesson throughout her work, which consistently features dreamlike women from a more enlightened realm overlaid with political tones that vary from piece to piece. Five murals completed by the artist this year in locales from Heerlen (Netherlands) to Belo Horizonte (Brazil) showcase her natural artistic proclivities through distinct final products, which exhibit similar mannerisms.
Untitled. Heerlen, Netherlands
The artist’s untitled work in the Netherlands gains its significance from the local area’s history. A description on her website explains that in the 1950s, the Dutch town suffered from the closure of coal mines, which came at the hands of lower American and Polish coal prices, paired with the rising availability of natural gas. Eventually, “coal mines were closed altogether and a difficult period of economic re-adjustment started in Heerlen. Even today the city has not fully recovered from the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.”
The woman shown in this mural can only be seen from the neck down, allowing the viewer to fully focus on her vintage-inspired outfit, created in a sumptuous painterly style with rich blues and whites. The appearance of a bygone era seems to recall a modicum of innocence. In her hands, she holds a broken pot, pieced back together to its original shape. Her description states that the work uses this “Japanese art practice of repairing broken pottery as a metaphor of life, making the piece even more beautiful than the original.” In utilizing the practice in her imagery, “ this wall speaks from a more personal perspective about these difficult issues, our sufferings, sorrows and wounds that we live with over time.” It comes at a time when the United States is coping with a similar transition, and the world at large grapples with its past in hopes of building a better future.
Times of an Applause. Girona, Spain
“Times of an Applause” is a study in a tone of traditionally proud recognition. Eight different images of a woman occupy two columns on the facade of a tall building in Girona, Spain. Each individual image displays a women caught in a moment spanning one clap. Also clad in classical clothing, her olive green shirt and mauve skirt compliment the building with their color and softness. In isolating the movements of this universally-accepted act of delight, Hyuro’s deconstruction leaves it feeling hollow, mocking even. The key to the mural’s ambiguous meaning lies in the woman’s expression, which the artist has purposefully obscured.
Untitled. Dolo, Venice, Italy
Breaking from her frequent visual motifs of the female form in traditional dress, Hyuro completed this mural in Dolo, Venice, Italy to pay tribute to a business that used to occupy the space this building inhabits at present. Ten years ago, a toy store actually resided on the land where the facade of this newly painted building now sits. Dolo is a small town of roughly 15,000 people in the Italian province of Venice. It gained its prosperity in Venice’s economic boom, and became a retreat for “the Venetian aristocracy [who] built grand country homes to escape the city,” according to Summer in Italy.
Hyuro’s still life incorporates many symbols of the whimsy associated with toy stores, including a tambourine, baby doll, and bowling pin. Fresh foods and the knife scattered across the table allude to a mother preparing dinner while her child plays with their new gifts. The ethereal scene espouses a calm and nurturing environment. In addition to recognizing the old establishment that used to exist in this space, its focus on leisure also acknowledge’s Dolo’s historical role as a safe-haven for Venetian seeking a reprieve from bustling city life.
Untitled. Vilvoorde, Belgium
Hyuro’s release for this mural states that she “was asked to speak about the Spanish immigration in Vilvoorde,” where one in three inhabitants is of Spanish decent, particularly from the village of Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo in Andalusia. This Spanish village underwent economic tumult in the late 1950s, as its prominent mining activities began to shut down. Many inhabitants moved to Belgium, where workers in this field were needed, in hopes of continuing their livelihoods. “Between 1960 and 1970 many residents [emigrated] to Belgium to work in the mines and the steel industry and to build a new life.” Vilvoorde proved especially alluring, as it “was expanding its chemical and metalworking industry and needed skilled workers.” As a result, the Spanish presence in the town is incredibly visible. Hyuro says, “you constantly hear Spanish conversations on the street. There are Spanish cafes, Spanish shops and there is a tapas restaurant.”
This untitled mural unfolds horizontally, spanning the length of a wall. In it, a woman reaches into a sack, pulling out a blanket to cloak herself in. Hyuro explains, “the image represents the immigration process, the blanket refers to the culture, the customs that we carry within us.” The understated colors of the dark green and tan outfit she wears harkens to an atmosphere of modesty and safety in transit between a past life an a new one. The act of covering oneself also seems to signify a need for protection, of carrying these familiar customs to a new place in search of a better life.
Untitled. Belo Horizonte, Brazil
The ability to bear children is a distinguishing factor that unifies all women, regardless of personal life choices or fertility. For those who have transitioned into their femininity, swaying hips and shiny hair are symbols of fertility frequently chased in the fight for beauty. Unfortunately, women across the world often face legislation that lays legal claim to power over their own bodies. This large-scale mural addresses the plight of those without access to safe abortions. A statement released by Hyuro explains, “in Brazil there are between 500 thousand and 1.2 million abortions. According to the Brazilian Ministry of Health, around 250 thousand women are hospitalized per year because of complications derived from abortion. In 2016, the last year for which there are official figures, 203 women died due to clandestine abortions and poorly done procedures.” Poor women comprise a large percentage of these fatalities because they do not have the funds necessary to safely operate under the law.
The artist notes that in Brazil, “Congress has become more conservative in recent years and the political power of evangelicals has grown, lawmakers have introduced measures to completely ban abortion.” In addition to endangering a population of women who need to opt out of pregnancy for a variety of reasons, she states that, “penalty instrumentalizes, silences, domesticates and humiliates women, questioning our decision-making capacity, organizing our body, imposing us motherhood and restricting our life project.” Hyuro applied herself to creating the image of this dreamy, old-time dress in her signature style to “[represent] what remains, the emptiness in the face of the loss of every woman who has been confronted with the need of provoking a clandestine abortion.” The release omits the use of the coat hanger in this work though, a tragic symbol of dangerous, self-induced abortions. As conservative governments seek to deprive women the right to their own organs, Hyuro reminds the population at large of what they stand to lose.
Hyuro’s recent works in Europe and Brazil continue her prolific exercise in her signature style, with their enigmatic female figures and ethereal, sometimes murky meanings. Her focus on felinity not only pays tribute to this enigmatic force within our society, but also to the ideals of home, sensitivity, and sensuousness associated with what has historically been referred to as “the softer sex”. As a whole though, her work provokes contemplation, a calming and necessary act in itself. Questioning is the root of all political advancement led by the greater population. No figure better represents this sense of mystery, of the tension between stillness and movement than the ever-shifting female.
