Political Blu

One of the most eccentric and brilliant street artists of the decade, Blu is the pseudonym for an Italian artist who chooses to conceal his real identity. He can be recognized through very pronounced works all around the globe.

Having spent a few years in the central and South Americas, London, the West Bank, Germany and Italy to name a few, Blu began to create street art that was a powerful depiction of the current political and environmental dilemmas of the world.

Creating large images of people, inanimate objects and other eccentric objects all around, Blu’s depictions on war, climate change and communal relationships are very telling about life in the current place. Blu paints cartoon-ish images, which are thinly lined with black to emphasize the loud mix of color used.

Having claimed in an interview that the world has two very dangerous things called fear and rage, Blu aims to translate the complexity of these emotions into his disturbing and very in-your-face street art. But that’s not all, the mysterious artist also expresses his art form in insane ways, like destroying older street art!

Turns out, Blu took grey paint to 20 years worth of work in Bologna, Italy, as a form of protest against unstable laws and regulations about street art – he found out that the city’s officials were looking to preserve some street graffiti, which included his, and as an act of protest, he destroyed it .

To add more mystery, Blue never talks to journalists nor signs up for interviews – the only way to find blue or to know more is to look at the street art. There’s no information online about what certain works mean or what the murals depict. It’s just you and Blu’s work.

If you want to learn more about Blu, check out this amazing website, which features all of the artist’s work. Interestingly enough, Blu’s website is as quirky and as innovative as he is and is filled with pictures of sketches and street art. It also contains updates on the artist’s whereabouts!