On October 29th, GreenPoint Innovations, an environmentally-minded technology company based in Brooklyn, NY announced a new mural by street artist Federico Massa a.ka. Iena Cruz, painted at Q404 Hunters Point Campus in Long Island City. A press release by the organization explained that Cruz’s piece, titled ‘High Tide’ is a “thought-provoking mural that addresses how human activity impacts nature and how we can build a better future.”
Cruz was chosen to complete the mural as the winner of the GreenPoint EARTH 2020: Screens2Streets ‘Streets’ Award competition, “a Global Arts Activation and juried competition to harness the creative economy in celebration of Climate Week NYC 2020, the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations, and the 5th Anniversary of the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” according to the organization’s website.
As the competition’s winner, Cruz was selected by “a multi-disciplinary judging committee for his track record creating environmentally themed public art and for his complimentary vision of pushing the public art community towards more sustainable practices,” per the press release.
‘High Tide’ stands vibrant and declaratory on the massive, dark facade it covers. Looming over the East River, this mural makes use of its prime location. Cruz brought the best of his unique style, which blends hyperrealistic animal portraiture with psychedelically bright backgrounds. The cartoonish nature Cruz’s creatures are set against highlights both the artist’s technical skill and the animals’ own innate beauty. “Elements in the art – smoke stacks, gantry, blue heron, cormorant, sassafras, grasses, are inspired by its Long Island City, East River and Newtown Creek location,” explains the press release.
“The mural honors nature and its essential role as a resource in humankind’s past and present era of industrialization,” the press release continues. “As an official part of Climate Week NYC and the SDG Action Zone during the UN General Assembly, the aim of GreenPoint EARTH 2020 and this mural is to highlight the necessary role of natural climate solutions, as we build a better future and tackle climate change.” There’s real magic and real beauty to the expanse of life which roams this planet. Paying tribute to that fact in a bright and public manner continually reasserts its preeminence.
Cruz’s biography explains his distinct authority and passion for painting to this topic. Born in Milan, Italy in 1981, the artist went on to study Set Design at The Academy of Fine Arts in Brera. He married this training with his experience writing graffiti, and moved to New York City in 2010. It’s possible that his work’s vibrancy stems from “A Latin aesthetic [that] inspires many works, evolving from an interest in the culture, food and art of Mexico,” according to Cruz’s bio. “He credits his first Brooklyn roommates with this development, a group of highly accomplished Mexican artists and filmmakers who gave him a place in their transplanted New York community.”
Today, Cruz is “a globally recognized muralist, contemporary artist and set designer.” Whether on the streets or in the studio, his work “fuses his skills as a large-scale painter and set designer, and evinces his love of nature, bold colors and decorative motifs. He plans to continue experimenting with these themes and techniques in evermore-complex artistic and commercial applications.”
Painting with GreenPoint Innovations brings Cruz into the fold of the many stellar murals this organization as already facilitated, including Jorge Gerada’s parking lot tribute to frontline heroes in Queens (2020), South African artist SONNY’s mural ‘Kin’ near Brooklyn’s elevated JMZ subway line (2018), and FAILE’s iconic ‘Love Me, Love Me Not’ at WNYC Transmitter Park (2016). Each work continually elevates the importance of the environment, keeping its voice heard amidst the cacophony of our times.
Iena Cruz: website | facebook | instagram
Greenpoint Innovations: Website | Facebook | Instagram
