A few new B-Toy paste-ups have gone up in the Gracia area of Barcelona. One of them being a tribute to Amy Winehouse who passed away recently at just 28 yrs old.
B-Toy has a style that is really fitting for tributes. The sepia tones automatically trigger the 'historical' idea and that is re-inforced by the use of really iconic images of the people portrayed. Combined with the natural decaying environment, they sit very comfortably in the space and produce something interesting and special.
Remove the context (ie. put them in a gallery) and to a large degree you remove the power.
As portraits go, they do not come close to, say a Rembrandt or even an Andy Warhol. But Amy Winehouse was one of those very lucky few who at such a young age had access to so many opportunities. Unfortunately, she didn't take some of them and took too many of the others! However, I am sure, were she alive today, one of the things she would be really honoured by would be a B-Toy street portrait.
Obviously I wasn't first to the image above (Ava Gardner???), and while it is a shame to destroy an image like this, it would be hypocritical to criticise it. I think the best way to describe the action would be to revert to old skool graffiti language: TOY...without the 'B'!
That's all folks!
(all photo's copyright of ashwan)
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