The artist Julián Castillo, a native of Cali (Valle del Cauca), used a rare material to portray the Puerto Rican singer Resident on a wall in that city: human blood. Yes, as it reads. According to the young man, he wants this liquid to be used for art and not for war.
Castillo has been recognized in his native Colombia, as well as in other countries around the world, for his portraits and sculptures in favor of social struggle, minorities and other subjects that concern the low-income people of his land.
This time, he wanted to capture the former vocalist of the band Calle 13, for which he collected about 250 milliliters of blood with which he captured the face of the Puerto Rican interpreter, who in recent months has gone viral due to his fight with the Colombian reggaeton player J Balvin.
The place where the artist captured the face of the performer of songs such as 'There is no one like you' and 'Dare' was the one known as 'La estrella', in the rural area of the Siloé neighborhood, in the capital of Vallecaucana.
There, he wanted to highlight the character of the Puerto Rican rapper, whom he considers “a very big symbol that makes people reflect on his messages.” In addition, he believes that it is an example of revolution and leadership for all the countries of Latin America.
“We measured the blood in ounces and for René's face we used three of these ounces. For all the works we are doing we have extracted about 11″, said the young man.
One of the doubts that has seized the spectators of the young man's painting is the material with which he made it. He himself has said that within the parameters for donors is that they have not been tattooed or pierced recently; in addition, he clarified that the blood is mixed with a pigment “for tattooing and acronal so that the color lasts much longer”, he pointed out, in turn emphasizing that this mixture allows the drawing not to oxidize due to the composition chemistry of blood.
It should not be forgotten that Julián Castillo already has a Guinness Record Award for making the largest painting made by hand and in pencil.
In his profound speech for culture and art, Julián assures that he seeks to ode those who fight newspapers for human and social rights: “Some of this blood has been donated by an important social leader in Siloé and serves as a tribute to all those leaders who have given their lives to try to organize and defend their territories”, he said.
He also explained why he chose Siloé to portray the Puerto Rican singer. It should be noted that this neighborhood of Cali is known for being unsafe and one of the most forgotten by the State and the authorities.
“This sector of Las Estrellas is the icon of Cali and we are working this place to make it a tourist place, it is a place that we want to give to tourism, so we invite all the people of Cali and foreigners who also come and participate with us to see the change that commune 20 has,” said Julián Castillo.
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