Wandering around the vibrant streets of Utrecht, one cannot deny the way in which it reflects a street museum. With buildings being consumed by colorful artwork, these walls have a story tell. Among these works lies some of Munir Devries many projects. However, his art aims to be much more than just a painting on the wall as it stands as a powerful symbol of social commentary. With his quaint studio tucked away in the corner of this bustling city, his ideas evolve into something much grander than the four walls where they are produced. Devries art has grown from the train tracks of Amsterdam and has found its place speaking upon societal issues. With a keen mind to keep his art outside so that everyone can enjoy it, is it just for enjoyment or is there always a deeper meaning?
Devries connection to the world of art stemmed from earlier experiences and formed his interest in connecting people through art, “I like to create something that connects people, you know?” he explains. From showcasing his drawings at the local zoo to selling his works on Kings Day, these developing times integrated him in the world of art. Exploring Devries past and current works, it is evident that his evolution grew from personal projects to a quest to confront societal issues and provoke meaningful conversations. His initial canvas lay within the train tracks of Amsterdam, where under a night sky he found it peaceful to channel his thoughts. It was during his time in art school that he shaped his want to tell stories through art.
His graduate project, an art book that tells the tale of immigration through visuals, marked the turning points in art for visual appeal to storytelling. “I wanted to convey a message that isn’t super cliché, a message that is important” says Devries. He aimed to uncover the human experience and capture the voices of marginalized mainstream discourse. “This is a real-life story of immigration through different perspectives, I interviewed asylum seekers, the police, lawyers and many different people to try and tell the story from every angle” he says. His graduate project in 2015 marked a change in his career and he found himself producing murals that fostered community engagement, aiming to paint a story that goes further than the picture on the wall. “I’m not that arrogant that I try to spread only my ideas, so I look at what people are doing, and I try to interpret that” he concludes.
Now Devries various murals around the city aim to provoke a deeper conversation, but how is this received by people passing by? ‘Uitkomst’, a mural on a building in Abstededijk was formed based on the ideas of children at a local school. It features both the importance of being your authentic self and ties in with the covid period when people had to come outside and reinstall themselves in society. Does this artwork speak to those who pass by, or is it just another mural? A woman in her thirties, living in the surrounding areas who passes by this artwork daily shares some of the same thoughts as Munir himself. “I actually have thought about this, I think it’s like someone being scared to come out into the world, maybe its about pressures?” she says. Similarly, an elderly man found that this piece was thought provoking. “I think…I think that it makes me think. It can depend on the day and how I see it, I actually try to come up with a different idea each time and see how close I can get to what it actually means” he admits. Through exploring Devries work and speaking with members of the community it is evident that for most, his art goes beyond aesthetics, with each piece is a world of stories.
