GLeo street art

GLeo / Nathalia Gallego Sanchez

Murals

March 22, 2013

Colombian artist Nathalia Gallego Sanchez, aka Gleo, is best known for her large-scale murals that imbued the space around them with spiritual power. At first glance, it looks like the artist portrays mystical characters that exist only in mythologies or fantasies. However, after some time, it becomes clear that they all share a common element – a mask. The signature yellow-eyed masks adorn the faces of her subjects, thus removing all identifying landmarks that would imply a specific nationality, making them universal. For Gleo, it is essential for her work to "highlight that spiritual part of which we are all ashamed lately, to represent that we are part of an infinite whole."

We are energy that is transformed infinitely as the yellow eyes that I paint, they are a constant element that is symbol of the cycle and the infinite.

GLeo - FLORESCER, 2021
GLeo - FLORESCER, 2021. Acrylic on Linen; 390.4 x 390.4 cm

Empowering a Public Space

Gleo, who was born and raised in Cali, began drawing on the walls of her city when she was 17. For some reason, she felt the urge to draw on the white walls in front of her home. It all started with simple images of sea creatures and slowly evolved from there. The very word "public" space is what inspired her to go out there and leave her mark as an "act of political participation."

The years of questioning her purpose and goals led Gleo to the spiritual side of art. A way to remind everyone locked inside the walls of the city jungles that they are part of a bigger whole that exists outside cities.

GLeo - The Mother Girl, 2019
GLeo - The Mother Girl, 2019. Acrylic on Canvas; 258.1 x 203.2 cm

Spiritual Art

The artist's work is full of a bright palette and symbology, such as colors, geometrical shapes, flowers, tattoos, and eyes. The borders of her work are eliminated, and thus, nothing separates the viewers from her art

Gleo draws inspiration from ancestral cultures, taking elements from antiquity, such as talismans and historical objects. Once everything comes together, the artist's characters give a sense of great wisdom and spiritual power. Yet not all love her work, and she is often confronted with the opposition that sees her murals as nothing more than a destruction of public space. However, not even they can avoid the inner contemplation that captures the observers and the space they inhabit. 

GLeo - Multi Perspective Eye, 2021
GLeo - Multi Perspective Eye, 2021. Acrylic on linen; 174.2 x 193.5 cm

Gleo's Exhibitions 

In 2018 the artist showcased her work in an exhibition entitled Grace at the Museum of Contemporary art of Bogota. In 2022 she participated in a group show, Here and Out, at Toi Poneke Arts Center in Wellington, New Zealand, and in the 2020 group exhibition Beyond Reality at Galerie Chenus Longhi in Paris. 

Featured image: Gleo - Street art. All images copyright of the artist

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