Street art and graffiti are now being painted all over on the two walls across from West Village. Who is really behind it? Greg Astro is the man, a dynamic and talented Parisian graffiti artist. Currently, Astro is busy painting detailed murals on the top of Punter’s Pub. It is a building on Huntington Avenue, and shadows Boston’s Avenue of the Arts, across from the Museum of Fine Arts. The mural is an elaborate layout of cubes that has the 3D effect of popping out of the walls and tunnels that seem to go within.
“It’s like sculpture, but not,” Astro said. “It’s a way of drawing attention to a space that people would normally just pass right by.”
This mural of his is included in Northeastern University’s initiative, called the President Joseph E. Aoun’s Public Art Initiative. It acts as a platform for artists to use their creativity and add charm to the University’s campus. Clare Horn, Northeastern’s director of content marketing, is very much impressed by Astro’s work. “Astro’s signature dynamic style is found all over the world,” said Horn. “We wanted to bring that to Northeastern and feature it right along Boston’s Avenue of the Arts for everyone to enjoy.”
According to Bartesaghui, Astro’s assistant, they were highly inspired by Egyptian art at the MFA. Calligraphy and Egyptian hieroglyphics have had a lot of influence on Astro’s freehand graffiti drawings.
“For this, I just go by feeling,” Astro said. His hands move freely when he paints – he is one passionate artist, with many of his abstract designs being inspired by the World around him. “I prefer when people can imagine something in it”.
Astro first started painting two decades ago, when his skateboarding career was stumped due to a heavy injury. When asked about what he loves the most about art, he says, “That’s like asking, ‘What do I love about breathing. I just have to do it. If I didn’t, I would lose myself”.
Pranjali Wakde
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