Art World
From Spain to Syria, Street Artists Around the World Are Painting Murals to Memorialize George Floyd—See Them Here
The murals have gone up in the days since Floyd died at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis.
Caroline Goldstein
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Protests have rocked cities around the world following the death of George Floyd, an African American man who repeatedly gasped “I can’t breathe” as one of four Minneapolis police officers, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck. The day after Floyd’s death, all four officers were fired, and, on Friday, Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder.
In the days since, murals honoring Floyd have cropped up around the world, from Berlin to Los Angeles. In Minneapolis, at the corner of 38th street and Chicago Avenue, a 20-by-six-foot mural appears on a brick wall outside of the Cup Foods store where Floyd died. The work was painted by Xena Goldman, Cadex Herrera, Greta McLain, Niko Alexander, and Pablo Hernandez, according to Hyperallergic.
“Our idea was to depict Floyd not as a martyr but as a social justice hero,” Herrera told the site.
Floyd’s face appears surrounded by a sunflower, the center of which is filled in with the names of other black Americans who have died at the hands of police officers. In the block letters of his name, silhouettes of protesters raise fists in solidarity. At the bottom of the mural, the words “I can breathe now” are written in small white letters.
While the protests surrounding police brutality have been centered in the US, street art honoring Floyd has appeared in Barcelona, Berlin, and even the war-torn city of Binnish, Syria, where artists Aziz Asmar and Anis Hamdoun painted Floyd’s face with the words “NO TO RACISM” on a lone cement pylon.
Artist Celos paints a mural of George Floyd along Broadway in Los Angeles. .Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images.
Syrian artists Aziz Asmar and Anis Hamdoun finish a mural depicting George Floydin the town of Binnish in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province on June 1, 2020. Photo by Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images.
A group of artists paint a mural of George Floyd on the wall outside of Cup Foods, where Floyd was killed in police custody, on May 28, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images.
Street art in memory of George Floyd by Italian street artist TVBoy on May 31, 2020 in Barcelona, Spain. Photo by Miquel Benitez/Getty Images.
A protestor carries a painting in search of justice for George Floyd, at Foley Square in New York. Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images.
A portrait of George Floyd hangs on a street light pole as police officers stand guard at the Third Police Precinct during a face off with a group of protesters on May 27, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images.
A mural of George Floyd in West Dublin. (Photo by Niall Carson/PA Images via Getty Images)
A mural in Berlin drawn by Dominican graffiti artist Jesus Cruz Artiles, also known with his nickname as EME Freethinker. Photo by Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.
People gathered at Chicago Ave. and East 38th Street during a rally in Minneapolis. Photo by Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via Getty Images.
Destiny Randle works on a communal painting at the memorial site for George Floyd in Minneapolis. Photo by Steel Brooks/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.
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