39 year old Argentinian born street artist Martin Ron is widely considered to be one of the top ten muralists in the world, and to my mind, he is right up there. I’m personally in awe of his vast scale hyper realistic urban surrealist murals around the globe (one of my old favorites being in Hackney Wick, London).He has already decorated over 80 walls in his native city of Buenos Aires including this magnificent new one, which he was fortunate enough to complete just two days before social confinement. The artwork shows a boy trying to fix an imploding balloon heart.
The artist said, “I remember the neighbors asking me what a child is doing trying to mend a punctured heart. I answered that I had no idea, but that to interpret a child playing can be a good exercise to discover messages that hope can be rescued from within. Today, I look out from my balcony and the world has changed. Despite the drama that we have to live with, it comforts me to know that deep down the universe is wise. It’s obvious that the universe is sending us a message! Let’s take advantage of this pause to be able to interpret it.”
Being such a mighty force of nature in the street art field, it makes sense that Martin Ron co-founded Urban Embellishment Program (Programa de Embellecimiento Urbano) in Buenos Aires many years ago. His mission has been to add splashes of color to the city by working on giant projects that transform spaces.
The council supports the program and provides the artists with the necessary paint and equipment. It’s a winning formula for everyone involved: the community comes together for painting projects, walls covered by propaganda and vandalism get a bright makeover, the artists have complete freedom in their creativity and the residents enjoy living in such colorful neighborhoods.
People of all generations stop and marvel at the huge, captivating new worlds created in Ron Martin’s work that can be seen along the Buenos Aires skyline. He is an inspiration to so many.
When he feels fearful before starting a mural: that’s when he knows it’s going to be something special. Nothing gives him more excitement than looking at huge urban canvases before getting to work. His fire is fuelled by playing with limits, and his passion is clear to witness on each and every wall that he has left his mark on around the world. His artwork has been featured in several different press outlets including Random, Juxtapoz and Rolling Stone.
The artist takes inspiration from a particular William Blake quote, “He who binds to himself a joy does the winged life destroy; but he who kisses the joy as it flies lives in eternity’s sunrise.”
