From Spain to Syria, Street Artists Around the World Are Painting Murals to Memorialize George Floyd—See Them Here

by admin

Jun 1, 2020

artnet

Protests have rocked cities around the world following the death
of George Floyd, an African American man who repeatedly gasped “I
can’t breathe” as one of four Minneapolis police officers, Derek
Chauvin, knelt on his neck. The day after Floyd’s death, all four
officers were fired, and, on Friday, Chauvin was charged with
third-degree murder.

In the days since, murals honoring Floyd have cropped up around
the world, from Berlin to Los Angeles. In Minneapolis, at the
corner of 38th street and Chicago Avenue, a 20-by-six-foot mural
appears on a brick wall outside of the Cup Foods store where Floyd
died. The work was painted by Xena Goldman, Cadex Herrera, Greta
McLain, Niko Alexander, and Pablo Hernandez, according to Hyperallergic.

“Our idea was to depict Floyd not as a martyr but as a social
justice hero,” Herrera told the site.

Floyd’s face appears surrounded by a sunflower, the center of
which is filled in with the names of other black Americans who have
died at the hands of police officers. In the block letters of his
name, silhouettes of protesters raise fists in solidarity. At the
bottom of the mural, the words “I can breathe now” are written in
small white letters.

While the protests surrounding police brutality have been
centered in the US, street art honoring Floyd has appeared in
Barcelona, Berlin, and even the war-torn city of Binnish, Syria,
where artists Aziz Asmar and Anis Hamdoun painted Floyd’s face
with the words “NO TO RACISM” on a lone cement pylon.

Artist Celos paints a mural of George
Floyd along Broadway in Los Angeles. .Photo by Keith
Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images.

Syrian artists Aziz Asmar and Anis
Hamdoun finish a mural depicting George Floydin the town of Binnish
in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province on June 1, 2020. Photo by
Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images.

A group of artists paint a mural of
George Floyd on the wall outside of Cup Foods, where Floyd was
killed in police custody, on May 28, 2020 in Minneapolis,
Minnesota. Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images.

Street art in memory of George Floyd by
Italian street artist TVBoy on May 31, 2020 in Barcelona, Spain.
Photo by Miquel Benitez/Getty Images.

A protestor carries a painting in search
of justice for George Floyd, at Foley Square in New York. Photo by
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images.

A portrait of George Floyd hangs on a
street light pole as police officers stand guard at the Third
Police Precinct during a face off with a group of protesters on May
27, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty
Images.

A mural in Berlin drawn by Dominican
graffiti artist Jesus Cruz Artiles, also known with his nickname as
EME Freethinker. Photo by Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency via
Getty Images.

People gathered at Chicago Ave. and East
38th Street during a rally in Minneapolis. Photo by Richard
Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via Getty Images.

Destiny Randle works on a communal
painting at the memorial site for George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Photo by Steel Brooks/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.

The post From Spain to Syria, Street Artists Around the
World Are Painting Murals to Memorialize George Floyd—See Them
Here appeared first on artnet News.