ROA.
Roa, a muralist hailing from Ghent, Belgium, is a street artist whose creations have been extensively captured through photography, yet little is known about the artist.
His fascination with collecting small skulls from birds and rodents for home sketches was a precursor to his artistic path. Growing up in the vibrant cultural scene of the 1980s, Roa found inspiration in American life, particularly in music and skating. His interest in hip-hop merged seamlessly with his curiosity about graffiti, leading him to start with murals under bridges and walls.
As the art scene evolved in Belgium with the influence of foreign talents, Roa's connection with urban art deepened. Notably, he became renowned for his profound fascination with animals and rodents, often incorporating themes of life, death, and life after death in his murals. What sets him apart is his depiction of animals with detailed skeletal and internal organ representations, adding a unique realism to his work. Roa's preference for spray paint or acrylics, particularly in black, white, and gray scale, defines his distinctive style. His artistry extends globally, with major cities like London, New York, Berlin, Warsaw, Madrid, Moscow, Los Angeles, Mexico City, and Paris showcasing his creations.
Roa's affinity for animals drives him to paint native species based on the location, showcasing a remarkable attention to detail. His work not only turns heads in the street art community but also resonates with themes of conservation and environmental threats. Roa was part of the exhibition ‘Art in the streets’ in 2011 at MOCA Los Angeles, bringing together the most influential street artists of our time. His solo exhibition, "Annihilation," held at Backwood Gallery in Melbourne during the global Coronavirus crisis, delves into these pressing issues.
The exibition served as the backdrop for the release of "CODEX," a 350-page book by Lannoo Publishers, providing an overview of Roa's work categorized by continents. This autumn of 2023, he held his latest solo exibiton "Symbiosis" at Keteleer Gallery, Belgium.
Roa's anonymity has allowed his art to thrive independently, maintaining a sense of freedom and purity in his creative spirit.
ROA
ROA
ROA x Bald Eagle
NIGHT FLIGHT
THE BONEYARD PROJECT: RETURN FLIGHT
The Boneyard Project
The Project
Conceived in Spring 2010 by Tucson gallerist Eric Firestone with curator Carlo McCormick, The Bone Yard Project revives disused airplanes from America’s military history through the creative intervention of contemporary artists, taking entire airplanes and resting spots in the desert, known as boneyards, and putting them into the hands of artists. Renowned street artists from around the globe gathered at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona to resurrect these relics and give them new life as an art canvas. The first part of the Boneyard Project, Nose Job, made its debut in the summer of 2011 with an exhibition of nose cones taken from military airplanes and given to artists to use as eccentric-shaped canvases at the Eric Firestone Gallery in East Hampton, Long Island. In the second installment, Round Trip, more than 30 artists participated, including DC 3 planes painted by graffiti artists How & Nosm, Nunca, and Retna; a C97 cockpit by Saner; and C45 planes by Faile and Andrew Schoultz. The Pima Air & Space Museum is the largest non-government funded aviation museum in the United States, and one of the largest in the world. It maintains a collection of more than 300 aircraft and spacecraft from around the globe and more than 125,000 artifacts. Roa painted his planed alone much after the dust of the event had settled again.
C-117D
The Douglas C-117D is a military transport version of the famous civilian Douglas DC-3. It was used by the US NAVY during the Korean and Vietnam War.
