Argentinian Artist Magda Love Sends You Down The Rabbit Hole With Interactive Mural
Dive into the world of Alice in Wonderland through the eyes of iconic street artist, Magda Love.
Magda Love, né Magdalena Marcenaro, just wants you to appreciate the sunshine. The iconic street artist's latest exhibit “All In The Golden Afternoon” is an interactive mural that flips the story of Alice in Wonderland with captivating colors, figures and pieces that evoke parts of her Argentinian culture.
Before making her mark in the Big Apple, Magda’s hustle began in Buenos Aires, where she knew her talents and passion would align with the demands of street art culture. After moving to New York in 2000 with $300 in her pocket, Magda would go on to create murals that opened up a world of opportunities. From TED Talk projects to fashion collaborations, Magda’s vision of bold, bright art has all but frayed.
In addition to her mural, the artist teamed up with Extra Butter to create t-shirts that help fuse her love for fashion and art. “We are very excited to work with Magda Love, ” said Jason Faustino, co-owner of Extra Butter. “Magda’s work evokes an addictive, positive energy that gets you lost through the colorful world of endless discovery in her art.” Kicking off last week, the exhibit will run through July 9. Her artwork and tees are also available for purchase here.
VIBE VIVA caught up with Magda about her collaboration with Extra Butter, Latino pride and more. Check out a peek of the exhibit and our chat in the above gallery.
Magda Love & Extra Butter Present: All In The Golden Afternoon
How does Alice In Wonderland resonate in this exhibit?
When we decided to pick a movie as our theme for the Extra Butter installation as a nod to their cinematic heritage, I very quickly was drawn to Alice in Wonderland. I love the idea that it represents; A girl daydreaming into a magical land. Where all the things you love come to life and interact with each other. “All in the Golden Afternoon” represents my own magical space, where I hope to inspire others to create their own Wonderland. A place where you can daydream and surround yourself with wonderful creatures and nature; your own private wonderland.
It was very important to create a piece that encompassed the entire space, ceiling to floor. I wanted guests to have the perception that they are entering wonderland, walking into my dreams, into my head and get a taste of what I see and feel when I'm creating my artwork.
How do your roots in Argentina play a role in your art?
I am very proud of the place where I come from. Argentina is such a melting pot. I was raised in Buenos Aires by a teacher and an artist. My parents made evident to me very early on how important it is to pursue your dreams passionately. I was able to see very early the impact that art could have on people and our society. I am a daughter of an intellectual and emotionally charged generation. My parents always have strong ideals about helping others, caring for the place you live and playing an active role in your community. My mom is a dreamer and tireless worker, a super mom, she taught me work ethic, empathy, strength and vulnerability all my life.
Argentina is really a country of passion and love with many mix cultures and I like to believe that all those elements have formed me not only as a human being but also as an artist.
What's the relationship between fashion, art and music? I came across this video that brought it together quite beautifully.
Growing up I was always surrounded by artists and musicians. I opened my boutique in Argentina when I was 18 years old and I designed clothes for several years. I believe all arts are related. We feed off each other, we inspired each other. As an artist I like to believe that you can demonstrate your vision through very different mediums and it's magical when you find other people who are in tune with what you do. That's how great collaborations are born. This is the case with Extra Butter, we created a great shirt together, a great space where we could invite people to really show the beginning of future collaborations to come. It is truly amazing when you work with people that respects and supports your vision blindly. I love these guys!
Tell us about your partnership with Extra Butter. How did that come to be?
I was introduced to Extra Butter through Mary Becker, my manager, she has been really the rock to this project. She along with The Front Side Agency, have been eager to see this project through from the beginning. We spoke of the concepts and we were instantly in business. Extra Butter has impeccably curated their projects throughout the years. I think these guys are like me, always pushing forward and excited to create creative, unexpected projects. It has truly been a great experience. The Extra Butter team has been so supportive of me throughout this project and their overall excitement has made it very rewarding working with them.
I've been interested for a while in creating an interactive mural. This mural specifically contains woodcut pieces on the wall that guests can move around effectively changing the mural. Or customers may buy and take home a small piece of the experience. It was great to see the public interactive with the mural during the opening night. The woodcuts were flying off the walls.
What do you love the most about your culture?
We are crazy passionate people, for better or worse. We love good food, and our families, even if they drive us insane. Argentinean people really love to live life fully! They don't care if they have to wake up at 8 AM and work making time for friends and family is always most important. I also love how eclectic our culture is, we had so many waves of immigration during the first and Second World War. We have amazing native folktales and folklore that is still very much alive especially outside the big cities. I am very proud of being Latin American, I am very much inspired but other Latino artist, writers especially poets and I love magical realism literature. I have always been very interested in old rituals and mythology from all of South America. I think there are many lessons to learn from ancient civilizations about how we are connected to nature and to our world.
Why is the heart your signature piece?
I am constantly reminding myself and hopefully other viewers how important it is to stay connected to your own heart, to yourself. To connect with others from a loving place. To follow your heart, your dreams. Hearts are also a universal symbol for love and caring. I think this world and many people are very much craving more love and more compassion. As an artist and a mother, I really take it upon myself to make this world a more loving and bright place. You have this wonderful opportunity of creating public work and murals, so to utilize that space to inspire joy and positivity is very important to me. I feel very blessed to have a voice and to have the opportunity to contribute my little grain of sand to making this world a little better every day.
Anything else you’d like to share?
I am very excited and thankful for many upcoming projects. I have found endless support from so many artists, companies and people. All In The Golden Afternoon was an experience for myself and the viewers, we had delicious sweet treats shaped as my art made by my friend Ashley Holt for Sugar Monster and an amazing OM Digital photo booth where people could take photos in front of a green screen of my paintings. We really had a blast!
