Photos: Artist spray paints huge, iconic 'Beyond Walls' frescoes in Cape Town
Published on Mar 11, 2021 09:22 PM IST
On a sandy patch with tufts of grass in Cape Town's impoverished Philippi shantytown, French artist Saype checks a laminated image before adding details to a huge fresco spray-painted on the ground, part of a global project he hopes will foster unity in an increasingly polarised world. Guided by wooden pegs, Saype painstakingly builds up the final image of two hands clasping each other's forearms in the windswept corner of an old cement factory and surrounded by a sea of wooden and tin shacks. In his "Beyond Walls" series, the 31-year-old graffiti artist links street and land art in cities across the world -- often depicting a close-up of two people's hands gripping each other's forearms. "The idea is to create the biggest human chain, to speak about togetherness and today in Cape Town this is the ninth step of that project," said Saype, who was born Guillaume Legros.
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Published on Mar 11, 2021 09:22 PM IST
Saype posted his artwork on Instagram with the caption. "Beyond Walls step 10: Ouidah (Bénin) 1000m2, Biodegradable paint on sand, 2021. For the very first time, I created an artwork directly on the beach. It was a real challenge for me. I financed 100% of this project thanks to the sale of the fine art editions. Here, several millions of Africans have been embarked on a one-way trip accross the Atlantic."(Instagram)
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An aerial view of one of the artworks by artist Guillaume Legros, also known as Saype, from his global project, Beyond Walls, in Ganvi�, Benin, on March 2, 2021. - The "Beyond Walls" project started in Paris in front of the Eiffel Tower and has over several years travelled around the world, from Andorra, Berlin, Geneva, Ouagadougou, Yamoussoukro, Turin, Istanbul and Cape Town before coming to Benin's floating village of Ganvie. (AFP)
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An aerial view of one of the artworks by artist Guillaume Legros, also known as Saype, from his global project, Beyond Walls, in Ganvi�, Benin, on March 2, 2021. - The "Beyond Walls" project started in Paris in front of the Eiffel Tower and has over several years travelled around the world, from Andorra, Berlin, Geneva, Ouagadougou, Yamoussoukro, Turin, Istanbul and Cape Town before coming to Benin's floating village of Ganvie. (AFP)
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Artist Guillaume Legros, also known as Saype, is seen working on one his creations in his global project, Beyond Walls, in Ganvi�, Benin, on March 2, 2021. - The "Beyond Walls" project started in Paris in front of the Eiffel Tower and has over several years travelled around the world, from Andorra, Berlin, Geneva, Ouagadougou, Yamoussoukro, Turin, Istanbul and Cape Town before coming to Benin's floating village of Ganvie(AFP)
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TOPSHOT - An aerial view of one of the artworks by artist Guillaume Legros, also known as Saype, from his global project, Beyond Walls, in Ganvie, Benin, on March 2, 2021. - The "Beyond Walls" project started in Paris in front of the Eiffel Tower and has over several years travelled around the world, from Andorra, Berlin, Geneva, Ouagadougou, Yamoussoukro, Turin, Istanbul and Cape Town before coming to Benin's floating village of Ganvie. (AFP)
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Ganvie: An aerial view shows a giant landart fresco by French-Swiss artist Saype, painted for the 10th step of his worldwide 'Beyond Walls' project in Ganvie, village on stilts, Benin, on Wednesday March 3, 2021. Five frescoes were created using approximately 700 liters of biodegradable pigments made out of charcoal, chalk, water and milk proteins.(AP)
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