New India-inspired murals at Lodhi Art District, Brazilian artists behind works

Brazilian artists Douglas Castro and Renato Reno’s brilliance reflects in their artworks on the walls at the Lodhi Art District, under the project titled, Facing Walls.

The Lodhi Art District is a different Delhi — it has colour, it has art, and it has a creative vibe. Located between Khanna Market and Meherchand Market, the district (also called India’s first open air art district) first came up in 2015. Since then, 26 murals, which are in equal parts beautiful and trippy, have adorned the walls in the area.

Artist duo Douglas Castro and Renato Reno of Bicicleta Sem Freio pose in front of their artwork.(Akshat Nauriyal)

Now Brazilian artist duo Bicicleta Sem Freio (Bicycle Without Brakes) — of artists Douglas Castro and Renato Reno — in association with the St+art India Foundation, has painted two more murals, which are inspired by the local Indian flora fauna under a project called Facing Walls.

Douglas Castro’s mural which brings to life the flora and fauna of the country. (Akshat Nauriyal)

These vibrant creations are a celebration of life through colours, in line with Indian and Brazilian cultures. “We cannot describe how joyful we were when asked to participate in this project. The days have been a lot of discovery and learning is celebration. Our work is very colourful and organic... Indian culture, local fauna and
flora - everything seduced us,” says the duo.

Renato Reno artwork that has the Indian Pied Hornbill as the central figure. (Akshat Nauriyal)

The design and illustration collective — best known for exploring the mastership of colours and shapes with a dose of psychedelic and unique humour along with a sense of typography — mostly work together on their artworks, but for this specific project, they worked simultaneously and individually on two facing walls in Lodhi Colony. “For the first time we have worked on murals separately and it is also a new experience. In these two panels, we want to portray the fauna and fantastic flora of New Delhi through the eyes of two Brazilians in love with colours. In Renato’s panel, the central figure is a bird and Douglas seeks to portray various forms of flowers and leaves observed by the city after a visit to the city parks,” adds the duo, who have created these artworks in partnership with Sanskriti Kendra and the Embassy of Brazil.