Haulage has never been a sector you’d describe as “artsy”. That might well change, however, thanks to a cool initiative recently launched in Spain. The Truck Art Project, brainchild of Jaime Colsa, transport firm PBX and IAM Gallery, aims to create 100 moving artworks by using truck tarpaulins as oversize canvases. The first six trucks have already been completed and will be parked up at ARCOmadrid this weekend, giving visitors a unique opportunity to see brand-new, large-scale works by Spanish creators Javier Arce, Suso 33, Abraham Lacalle, Marina Vargas, Javier Calleja, Daniel Muñoz and Colección SOLO artist, Okuda San Miguel.
Attracted by the opportunity to produce a moving artwork, accessible to all, Okuda has created two new pieces, one on each side of the truck – Paisaje Inerte and Miradas Infinitas. “What I contribute to the project, most of all, is colour, freshness and that little dose of pop surrealism which characterises my work,” says the Madrid-based artist. He sees links between this project and the early days of the graffiti movement in New York: the public simply comes across artwork without intentionally looking for it. And for Okuda, that’s “magical.”
Okuda’s not exactly new to the transport-art format, though. There’s a first-class train criss-crossing India right at this minute, covered in his creations. And he’s not the only Colección SOLO character whose artwork has found its way onto wheels. In 2015 Smithe was among the 10 artists chosen to paint Mexico City buses to celebrate the pubic transport company’s tenth anniversary. So perhaps it’s time to look at haulage in a whole new light…