Martin Ron completed a stunning new mural at Meeting of Styles 2012 in Buenos Aires this week. It features a giant turtle flying out of a hole in the wall and an old man and his dog. Martin told Buenos Aires Street Art about its meaning and what the images represent.
3-D effect with texture and colour (photo © Buenos Aires Street Art)
The title of the mural is ‘Pedro Luján and his Dog’. “Using a marine turtle was ideal because it has the characteristics that I needed to achieve the effect of 3-D,” explained Martin. “The turtle is beautiful animal and has a lot of colours and textures. It’s really interesting to paint. It’s not an animal that is seen a lot and it seemed ideal to take it out of its normal context and put on it on the walls of Barracas.”
Metaphors – flying turtle
The new mural took Martin four days to complete and is painted on the wall of a factory building in Barracas. “The representation of the flying turtle coming out of a hole in the wall and an old man sat down almost unnoticed, it’s a metaphor of free interpretation,” explained Martin. “Each person can feel free to interpret it how they like. Perhaps my intention was to personify the imagination or the spiritual part of the person in the form of a turtle and a hole in the wall from which his imagination flies out,” revealed Martin. “The old man is not only a way of increasing the effect of 3-D but is an intricate part of the story that is told on the wall.”
Scale – mural by Martin in Caseros (photo © Buenos Aires Street Art)
Martin uses a number of techniques when painting his giant murals. “Regarding the scale of the turtle and the importance of the person sitting down, similar to the mural with the pregnant woman I painted in Caseros, a natural figure that appears to be real helps to exaggerate the effect of 3-D.”
Martin Ron with Pedro Luján and his dog (photo © Buenos Aires Street Art)
“The story (about the old man and his dog) perhaps has to do with all the power that we carry inside of us,” explained Martin. “Imagination, values, desires and the life force that doesn’t grow old with time but makes you stronger while paradoxically our bodies become weaker and older. But this energy is always present. Pedro Luján and the turtle are the same thing – the old man and his spirt. They both live a long time and the old man has a lot of stories to tell. So there is a play between the turtle and the old man.”
Reality and fantasy (photo © Buenos Aires Street Art)
Martin explained more about the title of the mural: “Pedro de Luján is the name of the street where I painted the mural. The man is real and the turtle is fantasy. I preferred to put the focus on the name and the old man sitting down that in reality is what we are used to seeing. We see the physical things but we have to make a big effort to to get to know his story, his desires and his reason to be. That giant that we carry inside us often goes unnoticed.”
Imagination (photo © Buenos Aires Street Art)
This mural no longer exists after the wall was demolished in 2017 (photo © Buenos Aires Street Art)
Buenos Aires Street Art represented Martin Ron for three years between 2013 and 2016 as his manager and teamed up with Hin Bus Depot to organise another mural featuring turtles in Penang, Malaysia in 2015. See photos here
All photos © Buenos Aires Street Art
