by Yair Frid, onGraffiti Removal , October 16, 2017
The graffiti artist, known as AX Colors, Adrià Bosch made a new tribute to Leo Messi on June 14, dedicating a mural in the “Jardins de les Tres Xemeneies” (Garden of the three fireplaces) in the neighborhood of Poble Sec in Barcelona. This popular space is known for being a place where graffiti artists can compete by displaying their best work on large cement walls.
Bosch, who is a fan of Barcelona and Messi, took this opportunity to pay tribute to the player. This isn’t the first time Bosch has commended Messi, in 2011 and 2016 when Messi won his third and fifth Golden Balls, Bosch honoured Messi in his artwork. On this occasion and without having a specific motif, he made an impressive mural of Messi’s face using different colors and shades, a trademark of the graffiti artist, who on other occasions made colorful graffiti from personalities such as Michael Jackson and characters like Arya Stark from Game of Thrones and Walter White from Breaking Bad.
The mural of Messi required 8 hours of work and 40 cans of spray paint. It was very well received amongst the fans and visitors of the garden and they even formed a row so they could get a photo with him. However, the graffiti didn’t remain intact for very long. The next day it had already been painted over. Being a public space dedicated to wall painting, the artist was not surprised by this fact and stressed that he is aware that this type of art is ephemeral. In addition, Bosch said he would love to pay another homage to what he considers to be the best player of all time, as he hopes that there will be no shortage of opportunities to portray him in 2018 when the World Cup is played, and this time hopes that the portrait lasts for much longer.
Unfortunately, this incredible graffiti is already history and only with solutions like anti graffiti coating could the portrait have remained intact for much longer. Hopefully, in future occasions, Bosch decides to opt for a coating not to lose his excellent and colourful examples of street art.