Words by Mia Kingsley

For this week’s Street Art Update we are interested in Roa, a worldwide street artist. I’m pretty sure you must have seen one of  his animals climbing the walls of London before, large black and white creatures sitting by a bus stop or hanging out in packs by car parks. I have always really liked his work and regularly pass a rabbit of his on Hackney Road. But when I came across some particular pieces I hadn’t seen before I was really impressed.

Roa has created some really cool street art by using layers and tricks in his work, enabling us to see some of the biology inside the bodies of his animals. I really like the bird piece above as over time Roa has painted four layers giving us a view of veins, intestines, the skeleton and the bird as we would see it.

This is in Berlin, again using layers to present the various parts of the bird’s insides. I particularly like the presentation of this one, using the four walls creates a physical layering to the art which works really well with the concept.

Here the detail is small but just as effective, a part of the spine is revealed slightly almost suggesting decomposing of the flesh.

I think Roa’s street art is great and I especially like that they have an almost sinister and dark feel to them but also because they put a bit of wild life back into the city. Thanks Roa!