By Nomali Cele
There’s no denying that elephants are majestic. Not only that, but they also seem so ethereal and gentle. These big blessing of nature, which seem a little like one of us. Emotionally and socially at least. Even in spirituality, Hinduism and Buddhism for example, elephants show up again and again to symbolise important virtues. Perhaps it’s because of what elephants symbolise: strength, steadfastness, commitment to the path.
Falko One, the graffiti artist who was raised in Mitchelle’s Plain in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, went from painting elephants as a political message to a personal stance. While the artist still believes that elephants symbolise community and care, he’s turning the message inward. That the artist admires the traits of the majestic animals is his own business. Falko One’s Elephants are up to the viewer’s interpretation in the end.
What I’ve found, looking at and experiencing Falko One’s elephants, is a sense of joy and wonder. From the city and its townships to rural areas, Falko One creating his signature elephant mural adds a sense of whimsy to those environments. Think a wall in Newtown, painted a warm pink, with two elephants painted on it, towering over the passersby.
The interesting aspect of the work of Falko One and other graffiti artists is how public it is. While most fine artists create work with the end goal being for the work to be owned by an individual or organisation. Work that will be displayed and viewed at that individual or organisation’s whim, graffiti artists do work that is freely accessible to the public.
Free to view by everyone who passes one of his murals, Falko One does incredible street art and has been going strong since the 1990s. There’s no missing the happy factor of the artist’s work. To date, he’s painted over 200 elephants across the country and a few internationally. Falko One murals are always big and bright. The elephants are a surprise but they always end up fitting into their environment or transforming that one wall and its surroundings to fit the mural.
So the next time you see a big, you now know the name of the artist beautifying the place.
The featured image is by Ali Bhamral



