Good meaningful street art combined with conceptual thinking and awareness is at a premium. Even more so, a person getting into street art for the love of it is almost at a non-existent level. With art galleries and stores tapping into the street art market and realizing that these former underground artists designs are marketable and trend setting, the lure of money and fame has corrupted the originality and concepts of these artists. Add media attention into the mix and you’ll have a really good formula for big thick egos. A lot of these artists forget that street art earned its name by being on the streets, and not in art galleries, the papers or stores.

However, it is refreshing to see that there are some of these proactive breed of urban activists and street expressionists remain true to the actual cause. They choose to ignore greed and self gain to fight for others rights. They choose to do art because they love doing it, and not because they are paid to do it. They find motivation in their own abilities and spur others on to learn to find theirs. One such artist hails from Bologna, Italy and his name is Blu.

Evolution, 2007 by Blu

Introducing: Blu
When I first saw one of Blu’s pieces, I found it graphically disturbing and yet somewhat intriguing, like a good loaf of bread, full of wholesome goodness. His work is often large and very surrealistic, aggressively fresh, but always comically depicted and very playful. One of the first pieces of his art that I had laid my eyes upon was the Murales De Octobre in Nicaragua. I was awestruck. Take a look at the entire picture; it just makes you wonder how much time and effort he had put in. And to think it all started with a bunch of lines; it’s just simply breath-taking. [Let me catch my breath!]

The beauty of Blu’s work is that it is always noticed, in your face and up your nose. It would make you stop and stare even if your wife was delivering your new born in the hospital. His designs are strewn with political agendas, ethnic issues and moral statements. The sheer weight of his art carries itself above what some people can stomach, and can sometimes be downright brutal and wrongly interpreted. And they are big. Really big. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I saw any of his work that was smaller than 6 feet. From 2 storey buildings, to walls on the streets, to commissioned work, each design varies from the other, and he almost never repeats his designs elsewhere.

Unlike most artists, Blu has never placed any of his artwork on canvas, nor has he ever sold them anywhere. He is one of the few artists who chose to shy away from media hype and the recent canvas trend because he wants to keep his art in the public sphere, or simply put, in the streets where it belongs. He wants the public to accept and acknowledge that the art he made is for them, and not some collectors who keep the artwork that they purchased for thousands of dollars hung in a cosy room somewhere, completely hidden from the public eye and lost in meaningless memories.

Spina Festival, 2005 by Blu

Lorenzo Fonda, an aspiring film director and an avid fan of Blu, successfully convinced the once shy street artist to take part in a project of his called Megunica . It is a small budget documentary where the artist would travel to places like Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Argentina to see if the very different cultures and lifestyles would be able to influence his art and style. This is a film about improvisation, inspiration (and perspiration), innovation, self-exploration and all the other good things in life that end with -ion. Based on what I’ve seen so far on his website updates and on megunica.org, it’s safe to say that Blu has changed: he’s evolved and become even better than before.

The first trailer is already available online.

La Metropoli, 2005 by Blu

Website: http://www.blublu.org

Update: He’s got a blog now as well, do visit it.

Update: Sorry, the site is down. -the author