Cobre Art has painted the biggest mural in the world by a single artist with spray paint. The giant artwork features footballing icon Lionel Messi and is located in the city of Santa Fe, Argentina. Photos and interview by Buenos Aires Street Art.
Mural of Messi by Cobre Art towers over the city of Santa Fe (photo © Cobre Art)
The record-breaking mural by Argentine street artist Andres Iglesias, better known as Cobre Art, stands 75 metres high and 40 metres wide – covering a total area of 2400m2. It took him more than a year to complete using 700 litres of latex paint and more than 1000 spray cans. Andres spoke with Buenos Aires Street Art about his dream to hold the Guinness World Record for the biggest mural in the world by a single artist with spray paint.
Street artist Andres Iglesias (photo © BA Street Art)
Andres said: “This is the biggest mural in the world painted by one person with spray paint. It’s the second tallest mural in the world and the tallest in the southern hemisphere. And it’s also the biggest mural in the world relating to Messi, and it’s the biggest mural in Argentina – so there are a lot of records there!”
All time high – Andres Iglesias (photo © BA Street Art)
Amazing commitment, dedication and perseverance over a period of 14 months and around 1,400 hours painting allowed Andres to finish the 25-story mural. “They say you have to do something for 10,000 hours to master it,” joked Andres. “Well, I have spent almost 15% of that time on just one project!” He added: “At the beginning, I thought it might take three months to complete but it’s taken more than a year. I’m just really happy to finish it!”
Record-breaking (photo © BA Street Art)
Despite the enormous relief and satisfaction of completing the huge artwork, Andres explained he has to remain patient for Guinness World Records to recognise his feat. He said: “I’m waiting for Guinness to go through the process and confirm my certificate so I may have to wait a little longer before they say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ that I have the record – so fingers crossed!”
Dreaming big (photo © BA Street Art)
The title of the mural is ‘El Sueño del Pibe’ or ‘The Kid’s Dream’. “‘It’s a very Argentine thing to talk about a little kid dreaming big; and Messi achieved his childhood dream of winning the World Cup,” said Andres. “Messi is a great example for kids and society and anyone who has a big dream is that they really can make it happen and that’s what I wanted to show in this mural.” He added: “I sent a a video to Messi’s family so I’m 100% sure he saw it and I’m waiting for an answer! If he just sends me a thumbs up or says: ‘dude, I love the mural’ that would be awesome, and I hope it happens!”
There are big murals by Cobre Art all round the world (photo © BA Street Art)
Andres has been painting since he was eight-years-old and is well-known for being commissioned to paint huge photo-realistic portraits in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Cuba, Israel, Spain and all over the U.S.A. It’s not only the scale of this mural that takes the breath away but the remarkable level of detail.
Hyper-realism – timepiece with dates of Argentina’s 3 World Cup wins
One section of his new masterpiece features a timepiece that Messi has of a tattoo on his arm with stars relating to Argentina’s three World Cup triumphs in 1978, 1986 and more recently in 2022. Also etched on the clock is the historic date 18.12.22 when Montiel scored the final penalty that helped Argentina beat France in the final and Messi went on to lift the World Cup.
Hidden meanings (photo © BA Street Art)
Speaking with a good level of English, Andres went on: “Everything about the composition – the flowers, the clock and the little kid – has a significance and there are a lot of hidden meanings for people to find.”
The kid at the bottom of the mural is Messi as a young boy cupping his ears as a reference to Juan Roman Riquelme who made the gesture towards Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal when he was manager of Barcelona.
He added:” I think the whole idea of a piece of art is that people engage in conversation. If there is a family standing in front of it and talking about small details in the mural, I think my work is done here!”
Tourist attraction (photo © BA Street Art)
Andres is also hoping the mega mural in the city where he grew up can help put Santa Fe on the map. “We often associate large scale murals with being located in the biggest cities so I think it’s great for Santa Fe to have what I think is a world class mural and I hope a lot of people come here to see it,” he said. “It would also be nice if more artists want to come here to paint big buildings.”
Different streets offer different views of the mural (photo © BA Street Art)
The new mural is located on Avenida Alem and the corner of Alvear in the city of Santa Fe. Such is its size that the artwork can bee seen several kilometres away and various streets around the city offer differing views.
All photos unless mentioned © Buenos Aires Street Art
