Thursday Salute to Originals: Murals Take on Cubism and Realism

We love it when artists experiment with their work using mixed media, a new technique, or fusing two totally different styles together. And one particular artist, doing just that, caught our eye this week. Spanish mural artist, Miguel Angel Belinchon, also known as “Belin,” has brought together the unique (and completely opposite) styles of realism and cubism in his latest series of murals and paintings. At first, they remind us a bit of Picasso. But then we look closer and it’s as if we’re looking into the face of a very real (and very strange) human…

In fact, Pablo Picasso was his inspiration as he began creating his new collection of murals and paintings. It all began after Belin visited Picasso’s birthplace and was inspired to incorporate the characteristics of cubism – geometric shapes and lines with flat and bold colors – into his own traditional styles of realism and hyperrealism. Belin even gave the fusion of these two styles a name: Postneocubismo.

Prior to postneocubismo, Belin was renowned in the graffiti world for his photorealism, where he depicted people from real life and often with the photos in his hand. Postneocubismo transcends the boundaries of what is real and what is not. Belin is able to express in a way that is “free of rules and forms” with his newly created style.

In the video below, Belin expands on the concepts that helped transpire postneocubismo. You can view more of his murals and paintings here on his official Instagram profile.

Today, we salute Belin for showing us the beauty (and the peculiarity) in fusing the real and the surreal. How can combining styles revamp or enhance your own designs?

Sources: BelinJuxtapoz, Arrested Motion