REFLEJOS DEL JARDÍN de José Fernández Ríos. Parque Botánico y Orquidario.
Garden reflections (Pepa Delgado Navarro- 4ºA)
This is a beautiful hyperrealistic mural. It is one of the best inserted in the environment, it looks like a real part of the building. It represents palm trees, bougainvilleas and balconies. This vertical garden extends along seven blocks and this, together with the vegetation that already exists around, makes a spectacular scene to enjoy and admire.
Garden reflections (Noelia Pérez Martín – 4º Semipresencial)
It is a realistic mural and very integrated into the environment. They are palm trees and bougainvilleas that look real. Everything fills the building with a splendid feeling of being in a garden. The murals are so real that they can go unnoticed. Every detail is painted with great care and realism. It is a corner full of plant life.It may not be the most striking but it is one of the best integrated into the landscape.
Reflejos del jardín (María Mercedes Galán, Gina Barros, Inés Aragón, Denis Pacheco C1.2)
A different ‘garden’
The modern and rapidly growing city of Estepona, besides being well known as “The Garden of the Costa del Sol” for its green commitment in the old town and its surroundings, is currently becoming internationally recognized for its wall murals. “Reflejos del Jardín” is one of these wall paintings which, not only is considered one of the most impressive ones, but also the most extensive in Spain. In fact, this amazing composition is divided asymmetrically in the space of seven buildings placed next to Estepona´s Botanic Orchid Garden.
This painting is by Jose Fernández Rios (Orcera, Jaén, April 24, 1964) and depicts, in the style known as hyperrealism, a huge garden in which plants can be seen outdoors. Some of Fernández’s artworks, including paintings and sculptures, can be admired not only in Estepona but also in Jaen’s streets, roundabouts and promenades. Among the works carried out in Estepona, apart from this one, “Día de Pesca” and “Regando el Jardín” are two of the most significant ones.
Green on white: the art of mixing architecture with nature
This gigantic painting, divided in 20 zones, is painted in bright and soft colours, and it gets its inspiration from the local flora that can be found in the different parks of Estepona. It is easy to make out the outline of some palm trees, multicolored bougainvilleas and other plants, all of them looking as if they flourished from the buildings.
The warm colors used by the painter make the murals appear part of the environment without attracting too much attention from the people who wander around. Nevertheless, the effects on the viewer can be purely emotional. Their luminosity, seen from a distance, not only gives people a sense of peace and calm but also a sense of pride, encouraging them to take care of their own cities by preserving their nature.
The green colors of nature predominate and contrast in perfect harmony with the flower masses in which the red, pink, magenta, purple and yellow colors of the flowers and pots vibrate in infinite nuances, providing a gift for walkers´senses. A painted Andalusian balcony, which seems real at first sight, is where the artist reaches the perfection. It matches and plays with the thundering vegetation of the area, painted with a mastery and realism that will not leave anyone underwhelmed.
A thought-provoking cultural legacy
This artwork is inserted into the green lung of Estepona: ‘The Orchidarium’, a huge unique mural in which the artist’s objective was to extend the natural space to the surroundings, confusing the painted vegetation with the one that exists in the area and thus creating a larger open natural space. Undoubtedly, this mural has boosted the attraction to the Botanical Orchid Park.
As we have mentioned before, Estepona has been named after its plant heritage as «The garden of the Costa del Sol» and this breathtaking painting contributes to grow that legacy, integrating art, nature and architecture in a transversal way. This cultural and natural patrimony has given a name to Estepona around the world, breaking the seasonal trend of tourism and increasing the number of visitors it receives each year.
It is essential to emphasize that the town has established itself in recent years as a vacation destination due to the variety of offerings it presents to tourists. Besides the traditional offer of sun and beach, the urban and cultural tourism proposal has been added to the project of Estepona as “The Garden of the Costa del Sol”. This initiative adds value to the downtown by remodeling a hundred streets and creating unique facilities such as the Botanical-Orchid Park or cultural proposals such as the Route of Artistic Murals, which includes the one that concerns us, «Reflejos del Jardín».
An invaluable complement to the neighborhood
We consider this particular art piece to be a sort of a stealth painting, due to the way that urbanism and art are mixed, simulating that the real garden continues in the background along the façades. And this particularity makes this wall painting barely noticeable by the citizens that wander around the neighborhood, which we think was the artist´s intention.
But, even though it can go unnoticed at first instance, as soon as the walkers discover the paintings on the wall, the necessity of finding the rest of the trees, flowers and pots awakens. That’s the moment in which the viewer realizes that he or she has been surrounded by a masterpiece and begins to feel overwhelmed. The refined touch of the painter integrating his work into the surroundings is amazing and totally accomplished. There is no doubt that this painting is more complex than it may seem at first glance. The colors, sizes and shapes of the natural elements had to be placed on the existing buildings in a way that suited them, avoiding any king of disturbance on the walls. And, to be honest, it must be said that the final result is impressive: the white façades are now covered with bright colors, bringing them to life.
The whole town should thank the artist, José Fernández, for his efforts. He once more showed he can deal with projects as enormous as this. A large wall painting has turned out to be the perfect complement to this neighborhood, making the downtown green area even bigger. This is a real masterpiece that could perfectly stand the test of time with a little help from repainting and restoration efforts.
REFLECTIONS OF THE GARDEN (LEANDRA MIRA- 3ºB)
The mural was painted in 2016 by José Fernández Ríos .The technique used is acrylic paint and it is of realism type.
The mural consists of a large painting with details such as an Andalusian balcony that at first glance seems real, is spread over seven buildings where you can see bougainvilleas, Palm trees and flower pots. It was painted to expand the green area of the Orchid House by the buildings around, and to get the painted vegetation blended with the real one in the area.
From my point of view, it is one of the most beautiful realistic murals in Estepona. You cannot leave the village without appreciating it.
REFLECTIONS OF THE GARDEN (ITZIAR POL- 2ºC)
The mural represents a garden, with palm trees, bougainvilleas, windows and balconies. I chose it because it´s near my home and every time that I walk around, I always stop for a moment to look at the small details. The first time that I walked around it, I had to stop and look a couple of times to check if it some details were real or part of the mural. The style of the mural is “hyper-realist” and the artist really got the effect he wanted.. There is a perfect fusion between the real buildings with his windows and terraces and the painting. It´s really impressive. The mural was finished in February of 2016 and the artist who painted it made other realist murals in Estepona, like “Día de pesca” o “Regando el Jardín”
GARDEN REFLECTIONS (INMACULADA AGUILAR GUTIÉRREZ, MARÍA DEL CARMEN ROMÁN DEL RÍO- 1ºB)
This mural is included in the project that the Town Hall of Estepona started in 2012. It has got a surface of 4200 square meters and it fills seven buildings around the Botanic Park and the Orchidarium. It is the biggest artistic mural of Spain with a very realistic picture with palms, flowers and plant pots. It is one of my favourite murals because the whole building looks like a real botanic park. This work was made by only one artist: José Fernández Ríos. He is a Spanish artist. He was born in Jaén. His painting has got a hyper-realistic style. He has painted several more murals in Estepona: “Día de pesca”, “Niña regando”, “Atlantas”, All of them stand out for the perfect blend with the surrounding.
