Southampton artist creates work in Catalunya

Oliver Hall is one of the few international artists who gained a residency in the Catalan town of Riba-roja d’Ebre and the opportunity to produce his own work of art inspired by the region.

He says, “I have painted a mural that illustrates the traditional foot race which takes place in the village each summer. The main intention was to express a parallel between different generations connected through time in the activity throughout the history of the village and the river Ebro”. I also produced a time lapse of the mural, with a song that accompanies it, the Anthem of Catalonia, which was once prohibited by Franco’s regime.

Now his large scale footrace mural is part of a festival of art created by the Sotonian artist Sarah Misselbrook, who now lives in Spain. With the support of the local council, she organises a music and arts festival that has now been expanded to include the visual arts in 2016.

The 40-year-old ex-City College teacher, who faces offering workshops in Southampton whenever she returns, says: “We ask for requests from local and international artists every year, and the residency is open every summer. Oliver has created a large-scale mural in the Placa del Forn, which has been very successful”.

But this is not Oliver’s first piece of public art: he has also exhibited his large-scale drawings on the walls of Westquay as part of a project that donates space to local artists.