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Walking through the charming town of Tolosa this April, in the beautiful region of Occitania (France), I was captivated by an intriguing sculpture on the iconic Pont Neuf, which I photographed for La Vanguardia's Readers' Photos.
This is a red resin child figure, adorned with a bonnet d'âne (donkey cap), the creation of renowned French sculptor and artist, James Colomina, a native of Toulouse and known for his innovative approach to street art.
The installation of this work, considered controversial and avant-garde, took place clandestinely during the night of June 15, 2017.
This visually striking piece represents the stigmatization of minorities and the marginalized in general, personified in the figure of a child.
The donkey cap symbolizes the submission and punishment imposed on those who defy established social norms.
James Colomina, artist and vigilante from Toulouse, maintains an aura of mystery around his personality. His red sculptures, discreetly dispersed in the urban space, make him the Banksy of sculpture. Through these works, he questions society and politics with corrosive poetry.
Hypersensitive to news that he considers cruel, this "humanist street artist" creates pieces capable of expressing, with irony, the human condition.
The child, omnipresent in his creations, becomes the vehicle of his denunciation: the manipulation of the adult towards the child, naive and candid.
His true artistic signature, "Colomina Red", allows him to transmit numerous messages and a palette of emotions that ranges from violence to sweetness.
James Colomina, born in 1974 and originally from Limoux, in the Aude department, speaks with the melodic accent of the south of France. He is a hypersensitive person, deeply concerned about issues such as consumerism, mass manipulation, oppression of children, racism, poverty, the fate of migrants and urban pollution. For this reason, he has dedicated himself to street art to fight ignorance and cruelty.
Creating characters that embody the irony of the human condition, James Colomina seeks to attract the attention of politicians, question and provoke, even shock his peers, with the aim of generating debates and reactions.
His sculptures, both victims and complainants, are created from molds of adult or child bodies. Into these molds, the artist pours a resin mixed with a pigment.
The choice of scarlet red as a color for his works comes from his experience as a dental technician. After experimenting with white, black, pink, fluorescent green, blue and bright yellow, James Colomina opted for red.
This vibrant color, which provides excellent visibility and symbolizes the passion and urgency of its message, has become its hallmark in the world of street art.
Furthermore, on February 8, the talented French artist surprised the world once again by installing a work on the emblematic Ramblas of Barcelona. On this occasion, the piece captured the spirit of peace by depicting two children, one Israeli and the other Palestinian, symbolizing hope for reconciliation and coexistence in the midst of deep-seated conflicts.
Therefore, James Colomina's works invite us to reflect on society, childhood, oppression and resistance, all through the innocent gaze of a child and the audacity of a committed street artist.
