Greg Goya is making us kinder people- one brush stroke at a time.
The fine arts, often brimming with pretension and purposeless exclusivity, have in some ways become the very thing its creation has always moved against – inaccessible, ordinary, and impersonal. While this elitist ethos does not categorize all of the fine art world, its high prices and limited accessibility often lend themselves to highbrow insularity. Everyday art enthusiasts are unable to spend their entire savings accounts on yet another Jackson Pollock derivative, or more basically, even just a ticket to enter a museum. These minor changes, such as significant ticket price increases in museums such as the MoMA and the Louvre, are furthering the inaccessibility of high art. However, we now need art more than ever in our socially and politically divided era–with visual high art being hoarded and hidden by art collectors, prices rising in museums, and the exclusivity of the high visual art community, art must be reintegrated into our daily lives- the answer: street art.
While street art has always been and will continue to be not only a unique, personal and expressive form of art with the works of the likes of Basquiat, Invader, and Banksy, its rise with social media, connecting artists and inspiring others around the world has led to beautiful new pieces that can be admired on a walk to work. Greg Goya seems to have cracked the code to make our world a little more colorful.
From stop signs to subway stations, Goya’s art can be seen in the tiniest corners of Rome, Turin, and Milan. He focuses on what he calls “fast art” – small, interactive pieces that take no more than a few minutes and likely won’t last longer than a few days. Goya’s first few installations initially thrust him into the spotlight. n They were simple sentences, designating certain areas as “kiss stops”. Goya painted “kiss me here” painted on a bridge, chalked on a sidewalk, or even on a huge tapestry hung from Il Ponte di Piazza Vittorio in Turin. Goya filmed some of the interactions at these “kiss spots”, posting them on TikTok in 2023. His fanbase grew rapidly, and so did his works.
Goya’s works take many forms: Some of his most popular are focused on integrating childlike fun into often bleak metropolitan areas. His first, “the ground is lava”, is a series of marked crosswalks around downtown Milan, painted with “the ground is lava” on the white stripes on the road. Goya compiled videos of everyday people skipping across the crosswalks, adding some excitement to someone’s morning. From adding hopscotch to the entrance of the subway to Pac-Man along the steps of an escalator, Goya makes sure no one takes life too seriously.
While many of his works are poignant, simple, and beautiful, my personal favourites stand out as his interactive pieces, with every passerby able to add their own experience, words, or drawing. Just in time for the Olympics, one of his most popular installations was placed just across from the Eiffel Tower. A tall, blue board with dozens of blank golden medals hanging from it, with the words painted above: “What is the hardest challenge you have overcome?” Dozens of languages now decorate the communal canvas, allowing for every person’s victory time in the spotlight. Similar such installations exist around France and Italy, asking those who walk by: “Where did you leave a piece of your heart?”, “Which choice made you free?”, and “When did you realize it was love?”. The nature of these works ensures the connection of people from every walk of life. No matter where we come from, Goya reminds us that we all have had our victories, our defeats, and the battles we continue to fight. His work spreads love and support, reminding us that we are all more than meets the eye.
The elitism permeating the art world fades when artists like Greg Goya take the stage. Art shouldn’t be confined to the walls of high-price museums and gated communities, but to the people walking down the street who need a reminder to keep fighting, that love is just around the corner. He reminds us that creativity can truly have no bounds, and the world doesn’t have to be as dark as we make it out to be- we just have to paint it a different color.
