Wynwood Mural by David Walker

During Art Basel 2013, David Walker created one of the most expansive, large scale murals of his career. Walker is a British street artist who paints solely with spray cans. This is typically very hard unless the artist is only writing Graffiti, as opposed to more elaborate street art, because spray cans can be difficult to control.

However, Walker revels in defying the odds. His giant murals, mostly of female subjects, are picturesque and full of detail. He layers and layers for an eruption of bright colors. He also uses a grid to help create the initial layers of intricate facial features full of natural, yet multi-colored, shading and perfectly curled lines that create the illusion of motion. Every face Walker paints brings with it a different theme, a different emotion to be translated from each neon rainbow face.

Walker boycotts brushes and stencils, not because of preference only, but because he wants to make a statement regarding the quality and difficulty of street art in comparison to studio art. There is a sharp contrast between highbrow and lowbrow art within the community is perceived, but Walker wishes to demolish these limiting boundaries that infect the reception of art by assigning value based on status rather than merit and the sheer emotion a work evokes.