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LA WALLONIE ENTREPREND - A message to the people

Three portraits of Wallonian entrepreneurs on a building in the middle of Charleroi. A positive message for the residents in the form of a campaign for newspaper L'echo.

Sending out a message to create awareness can be a pain in the ass. With large scale murals and artwork we turn the pain into paint!

THE STORY

For L’Echo, a newspaper for the south of Belgium, we were asked to create three murals based on portraits from Wallonian entrepreneurs for a campaign titled ‘La Wallonie Entreprend’ (Wallonia means business). With this message they want to show the common man that everyone has what it takes to become a successful businessman or woman, even if it’s in a region like Wallonia that suffers from an archaic industrial setting. Step by step the new entrepreneurs are changing the whole region for the better.

We set up a few meetings with these entrepreneurs to hear their story of how they became successful and, of course, to take a portrait photo with the world-renowned portrait artist Spear behind the lens.
A long and hard search for the building with the perfect setting and permission of the owners made us end up at the site of Interbeton in Charleroi. We weren’t the first ones there, as the building was already marked by famous artist INVADER. We decided to place wooden panels and tape over his artwork to show the respect he deserves. After all, the campaign we were working on is only a temporary project and would be removed after a few months.
After some construction work (yes, more wooden panels), Spear could get started on his new three-week assignment. Most people know that for an ad campaign there is always some time pressure from above, and for us it was no different. But as lucky as we always are, things went forward fast.
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The three portraits of the Wallonian entrepreneurs Virginie Dufrasne, François Fornieri and Jean-Pierre Lutgen surely made an impression, even from a mile away.

About the artist

Spear is a Belgian painter based in Brussels and has been painting since 2002. With art as a way to create a social and humanist message, his work is split into inside and outside activities. Traveling half of the year, he painted in a few Latin countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico, Cuba… and European cities such as Paris, Berlin, London and of course Brussels. Traveling made him aware of different social realities where he discovered a different way of thinking and living, but it also made him question our lifestyle and values…
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

  • Total surface: 3 portraits, 180 sq. meters each
  • Material: concrete
  • Length: 16m
  • Width: 16m
  • Height: 33m
  • Ingredients: Acrylic paint and some spray paint
  • Project duration: 18 days
 
The murals are planned to be removed due to the campaign being temporary, but they might still be visible at ‘interbeton’ in Charleroi. Near the Action store.

​Big thanks to everyone who helped out in this project: