SAWE Rewrites Graffiti in B-Murals’ New Exhibition

• B-Murals presents INDUSTRIAL SCRIBERS, the new exhibition-installation by the renowned Catalan artist Martí SAWE.
• Opened on May 24th and running until September 7th, the installation revolves around industrial aesthetics, a contemporary return to the most underground and peripheral graffiti that plays with the concept of the signature. 
• INDUSTRIAL SCRIBERS is part of B-Murals WCU3’s innovative line of immersive exhibitions and offers a complete range of mediation and exploration activities during its 3-month run.

INDUSTRIAL SCRIBERS 

It is an exhibition-installation curated by B-Murals, as part of its innovative curatorial line WCU3, with the aim of inviting artists who define the most contemporary urban art scene in Barcelona. The focus is on creations that occupy both the street and the canvas, seeking a third form of existence that is permeable and distinctly different from these two worlds. 

Martí SAWE pays homage to the industrial past of Nau Bostik, where B-Murals is located, through the (re)writing of factory logos and typography, and the use of construction materials, bringing the street into the exhibition space and creating a unique universe that challenges the traditional concept of a gallery.

The artist presents a fictional scene of graffiti writers influenced solely by an industrial environment. Metal and corporate logos invade the space, inviting us to imagine a group of young people from urban peripheries choosing pseudonyms, developing their own styles, selecting a specific palette of colors, surfaces and styles. This scenario mirrors what happened in New York in the 1970s, but replaces the pop culture references of that era with catalogs, tools, and materials characteristic of any suburban factory.

'INDUSTRIAL SCRIBERS' by MARTÍ SAWE from B-Murals on Vimeo.

INDUSTRIAL SCRIBERS is a clear example of his respectful view towards the past, but with a focus on the immediate future. As a member of this subculture, 50 years later and from Europe, Martí Sawe admires the foundations established by pioneers like Phase2 and Blade, but understands it is essential to subvert them through a new language as the only way to maintain the spirit of exploration that those young people had, who didn’t know exactly what they were inventing. 

The intervention is accompanied by the publication of a specific fanzine in the context of the installation, hand-customized by the artist, as well as a series of prints and original works created for the occasion.

Martí Sawe (Barcelona, 1986) 

Martí has forged a prolific and persistent career in the world of graffiti since 2001. His pseudonym has become a reference in this subculture, leaving a mark in numerous cities around the world both legally and illegally. After graduating from the illustration course at Massana in 2006, he worked in this field and in animation until 2018 when he decided to focus on his artistic career. Currently, he is a resident at the contemporary art center Piramidón and is exhibiting throughout Europe, Tokyo, Peru, New York, Miami, Dubai… Primarily focused on painting, his works are a constant battle between control and chaos. Virtuoso details coexist with scribbles, flat colors with accidental textures, figuration with disfiguration. This dichotomy results in confusing but sincere images that reflect his context. His rich proposal in pictorial languages, color, rhythm, and open messages converges into a visual noise born from the globalization and information overload of our times.

B-MURALS, space for creation, exhibition, and the WCU3 curatorial line 

Within its curatorial line, B-MURALS has a regular program of exhibitions aimed at spreading and giving visibility to the work of resident or guest artists linked to urban art. One of the standout lines within the exhibition program is WCU3, where guest artists develop ephemeral installations that expand the most experimental aspect of their work. 

WCU3 boosts the creation of unique exhibition works that would hardly find a place in a conventional gallery. This line offers urban artists the opportunity to explore new lines of work, approaching their art from new perspectives and exhibition forms, investigating the three-dimensional format and installation, and escaping the more classic formulas constrained by a gallery wall. 

B-MURALS’ WCU3 has portrayed the work of artists such as Jan Vallverdú and his collective, Zion Town Kids, with the installation “Sotapont” (2021), Camil Escruela, Morise Art, Siuk and Lucciano Pineal (Playground, 2022), Kenor and Mina Hamada (EnTrance, 2022), and Dunja Jankovic (Giants, 2023).

B-Murals Art Center 

B-MURALS is a specialized urban art center based in Barcelona. It is a pioneering and unique project due to its comprehensive approach, which combines support for creation through mural interventions, residencies, and exhibitions, with community work, education, reflection, and dissemination of this discipline, aiming to foster its growth and bring it closer to the general public. 

B-Murals Arts Center is supported by: Ayuntamiento de Barcelona, Generalitat de Catalunya and Montana Colors. 

Photography: Jose Gallardo & Monika Plufferova 

EXHIBITION SCHEDULE: Wednesday to Saturday, from 12h to 19h 

B-Murals Centre d’Art Urbà 
C/ Ferran Turné 1-11, 08027 Barcelona. (<M> La Sagrera; Bus H8) 
https://www.bmurals.com/ 
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