French creatives Ella & Pitr have unveiled the world’s street art largest mural in Paris, but it may prove tricky to find.
Created on the top of a building, the sprawling 25,000-square-metre mural can only be seen from above. It depicts the figure of an elderly grandmother pointing towards a six-lane highway that passes above the building and cuts through the artwork, while above her head on a separate site a red and white plastic bag floats away in the breeze. The mural has been done in an eye-catching cartoon style and incorporates France’s colours – red, white and blue.
“We were inspired by our grandmother Sylvette, who was always concerned with the small things in life. Compared to the artwork, the cars are very small and the people are like ants. The figure is looking at the road, probably thinking that there are a lot of people running everywhere. Things are going too fast for her,” Ella & Pitr told Lonely Planet. The process took eight days to complete, with the artist’s working 12-hour days alongside friends and volunteers. First they drew the main lines using magnetic stones, before painting in the colours in blocks.
“We don’t really care about any type of record, we just love to play. If you give us a small piece of paper, we’ll paint it. If you give us a huge roof, we’ll paint it too. After a gigantic project like that, we usually feel as if we have given birth – exhausted but happy,” Ella & Pitr said.
The pair previously painted a mural on the 47-metre-high façade of Le Barrage du Piney dam near the small village of La Valla en Gier, close to St-Étienne.
More information on Ella and Pitr’s work is available at their official website.
