Aiden Hughes has turned his face in a new direction, this time he has been working on large scale graffiti works.
Hughes' murals are large abstracts in monochrome which represent the days of creation before the world was born. They intend to give back to the city's people the relationship between them and nature which existed before all the space was given over to advertising hoardings. Hughes advocates the banishment of traditional graffiti in favour of a new iconoclasm which dominates while, at the same time, working in tandem with the architecture that surrounds it.
Hughes' controversial murals in the mediaeval town of Barga in Tuscany Italy outline this perfectly. However, many authorities have shown displeasure with the guerrilla tactics required for these 'art-events' and have so far painted over all of the murals to date.
Undeterred, Hughes has plans for an entire housing project in southern Spain later this year. 'I don't necessarily go along with the 'safe' path in obtaining planning
permission and grants for my work. The bureaucrats will always find a way to censor or tone down the work, often delaying the project for up to a year by which time I have moved on. I would much sooner get out there and do it over the weekend. It is the same philosophy of graffiti used by the yobs on the underground, only with more style.'
The 75 metre graffiti can be seen on the official site for Barga, Italy : http://www.barganews.com/whats_on/2003/brute