Bright colors posses a unique power. When vibrant hues are bestowed upon a previously solemn, dingy wall they don’t just change what you see, but also how you feel. For the past 5 years, 27-year old muralist Julieta XLF has been bestowing the gift of color on both interior and exterior walls all around Europe, and she shows no sign of letting up.

Every week she’s busy collaborating with a breathtakingly talented crew of friends on both commissioned and personal murals, never seeming to exhaust her cast of adorable and sometimes absurd characters. Julieta’s work can be found on the walls of playgrounds, dance clubs, and even previously dilapidated housing projects that desperately needed a splash of color.

The whimsical grace with which her psychedelic landscapes flow across a given space is seamlessly complemented by the zen-like expression each of her contented characters sports. Who could blame them, when their sole purpose is to make passersby stop and smile at what was once dead space.
I recently caught up with the Valencia-based artist via e-mail, and here’s what she had to say. --Tanya Kollar

Tanya Kollar: When/why did you pick up painting? And when did that evolve into doing street art?

JulietaXLF: I’ve always liked painting and that’s why I started studying fine arts. About 5 years ago, while I was studying, I went to live in Sicily. My friend Escif came to visit me and he connected me with people who were painting there. He motivated me to paint. I really liked the experience and kept on painting on the street.

You're part of the graffiti collective "XLF" - when did you join up with them, and what are the advantages of being in such a group?

For me XLF is like my second family. I joined them about 4 years ago more or less. I started painting with them, and they have taught me a lot. We don’t really feel the crew as a graffiti collective, we are overall a group of friends who enjoy painting, traveling, and sharing life together.

Union is strength.

You've done many commissioned works for clubs and other businesses, but you also have a serious collection of, er, "unauthorized" murals under your belt. What's the ratio - have you done more commissions or more personal pieces? Which do you prefer to do?

Probably I’ve done more of the second type, which are my favourites for sure.

I love the pair of Vans you designed. Any new clothing collaborations coming up?
Nowadays I’m working on 5 designs for a new brand of t-shirts coming out in Spain soon.

A number of your commissioned pieces, as well as those of other XLF members, can be found in discotecas. What type of music do you like to listen to?
It depends on the moment, the place…I like many different kinds of music. What I used to listen to the most was rap but apart from that trip hop, dance-hall, electronica, experimental, rock, flamenco, reggae, funk, soul...

Have you ever gotten into trouble with the authorities over your street art?
I’ve always been very lucky with this. I’ve had to run a couple of times, after that I decided not to run anymore ‘cos I don’t feel I’m doing anything bad. That’s why I’m always calm when I paint.

Police have stopped me several times, sometimes they have taken all my cans, my name and ID and made me quit but nothing serious.

I try to paint on dead walls which need colour, who can bother this? Grey cities are sad. And there is plenty of [advertisements] and so many things that nobody has asked us if we want [on the walls], so even if someone doesn’t like paintings on the streets it’s a great thing to start thinking how we want our cities to be.

Stay tuned for Part II of this interview with Julieta XLF tomorrow.

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