French street artist Youri Cansell, a.k.a. Mantra, loves butterflies. As a child in Metz, he spent hours exploring his parent’s garden while dreaming of being a naturalist. “I was interested, curious and focused on the small life forms in those places,” he explains.
Mantra has taken his love of entomology and turned it into something big, very big. He paints gigantic murals that resemble three-dimensional butterfly specimen cases on buildings around the world. His “fool the eye” optical illusions are sensational, and with help from entomologists, they are also accurate portrayals of local species.
In addition to France, his super-size Lepidoptera have landed on buildings in Spain, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Mexico, Columbia and the United States. My husband and I serendipitously discovered one in Little Rock, Arkansas, and would now like to seek out the others in Bentonville and Fort Smith, Arkansas, as well as Brooklyn, New York.
Mantra explains his goal as follows: “Painting murals internationally has allowed me to get in touch with various communities, appreciate different cultures and languages and despite the current difficulties, connect beyond borders. In turn, I hope to put a smile on people’s faces while they walk by.”
It would be hard not to smile when encountering one of Mantra’s masterpieces. And although he is famous for his butterflies and moths, he is equally adept at painting other species, including humans and arachnids.
omg!!! powerful stuff, but the spider is a bit . . . spooky???