TVBoy

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TVBoy
TVBoy in front of some of his images in 2010
Born
Salvatore Benintende

(1980-07-16) 16 July 1980 (age 43)
Palermo, Italy
Known forStreet art
MovementNeo-pop

Salvatore Benintende (born 16 July 1980), known by the pseudonym TVBoy (rendered with various capitalisations), is an Italian neo-pop street artist. He is known for his murals depicting footballers and current affairs, particularly George Floyd following his murder, Vladimir Putin following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Alexia Putellas following her first Ballon d'Or Féminin win. Having begun his street art work in 1996, he has been described as "the Banksy of Barcelona", one of the cities, along with Milan, he is known for decorating.[1][2]

Career[edit]

TVBoy graffiti character in Barcelona in 2005

TVBoy's works often depict current affairs.[3] Many of his large murals are done in Gràcia, a location of much artistic culture in the city.[4][5] Some of his art is dedicated to local icons, including painting Montserrat Caballé and Pau Donés after their deaths.[4]

In his pieces relating to football, he has painted Lionel Messi, described as a muse, many times. He also created a mural of Diego Maradona after his death,[4] though, proving controversial, TVBoy replaced it with Super Alexia, depicting women's footballer Alexia Putellas.[2][6] He added another mural of Messi after he won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[3]

His first official gallery show in Barcelona was Home Street Home, held in 2021 at the Casa Seat.[7]

He has created many murals to reflect support of Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, including in the Kyiv region[8] and around Barcelona. In Barcelona, next to his mural of Putellas is one of a Ukrainian flag bearing the word "hope" with an image of a girl making its letter "O" into a peace symbol, and on one panel in Plaça Sant Jaume, the centre of Catalonia, he has created and updated various murals, depicting images including Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling for an end to war; children planting a peace flag on a Russian tank; and Russian president Vladimir Putin incarcerated.[9][10] The panel was later removed during façade renovations.[3] In January 2023, he was invited by humanitarian organisation Cesvi to travel to Bucha and Irpin in Ukraine's Kyiv oblast, sites of the Bucha massacre and Battle of Irpin, to create art to bring positivity as the nation approached a year of war. Combining football and the war in Ukraine, one of his murals depicts children playing football wearing jerseys with the numbers 20 and 23, and the names "peace" and "hope". His other murals in Ukraine depict children, too, as well as flowers and the colours of the Ukrainian flag.[3][8]

Exhibitions[edit]

Gallery[edit]

Personal life[edit]

He has a daughter.[14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "TVBoy. Modern icons". Time Out. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Barcelona: la revolución del grafiti". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 31 December 2022. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d "Aquests són els grafitis que TVBoy ha pintat a Ucraïna". ElNacional.cat (in Catalan). 29 January 2023. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d "L'artista urbà Tvboy dedica la seva última obra a Pau Donés". ElNacional.cat (in Catalan). 28 June 2021. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Lamentables insultos a Alexia Putellas en un mural de Barcelona". Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 25 January 2023. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  6. ^ "Barcelona mural honors Putellas after record breaking Clasico". La Prensa Latina Media. 31 March 2022. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Casa Seat, tres años como referente social y cultural de Barcelona". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 14 June 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Gallery: The best photos from around the world". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  9. ^ Jeffery, Adam. "The art of war: Artists around the world leave their mark in support of Ukraine". CNBC. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  10. ^ Kelleher, Suzanne Rowan. "Photos: Europe's Best-Known Street Artists Slam Putin's War In Ukraine". Forbes. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g "TV Boy". Gestalt Gallery. 3 June 2015. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  12. ^ BTOY (31 March 2009), Street Art Painting, archived from the original on 7 February 2023, retrieved 7 February 2023
  13. ^ "Jago, Banksy, TvBoy, gli "enfants terribles" dell'arte a Palazzo Albergati di Bologna". Arte Magazine (in Italian). 1 November 2022. Archived from the original on 5 February 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Tot costa - Tv Boy: "El mural de l'Alexia, amb el 'Follow your dreams', és per encoratjar les noves generacions"". CCMA (in Catalan). 22 March 2022. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.