When opportunity knocks...
Argentinian
street artist Alvaro Barrionuevo is making the most of an unplanned-extended stay in Australia.
The expat, who goes by the name BOSAK, has painted murals at several locations across the country including in the Wimmera.
He has left his mark at Byron Bay and Murwillumbah in New South Wales and most recently at Dadwells Bridge and Laharum in the region.
When Barrionuevo arrived in Australia in February, he could never have predicted countries across the globe were about to enter heavy lockdowns in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He and his group of friends found themselves in a dilemma, to either travel home or extend their visas to spend a few extra months in Australia.
Before the second wave of restrictions, Barrionuevo – who has a bridging visa – joined his friends to travel to the Wimmera after finding work opportunities at Australian Wildflowers at Laharum.
On arriving, word quickly spread that Barrionuevo was a professional artist.
When he told his hosts at Grampians Edge Caravan Park he was a street artist they jumped at the opportunity to feature his work at their site.
The caravan park commissioned him to paint a series of murals, including a blue wren on a water tank.
Following his first murals in the region, it was not long before he picked up more work.
His employers asked him to com
plete murals on shipping containers at the flower farm.
Barrionuevo said he was ‘overwhelmed’ that he had an opportunity to explore his passion of painting during his visit.
“With COVID-19, I’m stuck here, but I am enjoying this country,” he said.
“It’s an amazing place and I am very happy that I can find work that is my passion. I’m in another country and I have the experience of doing street art and getting paid for it.”
Barrionuevo said he never expected he would secure so many opportunities.
“I came with a tourist visa because the idea was to visit some friends in Byron Bay to go surfing,” he said.
“When I was working at the flower farm, they saw the mural I completed at the caravan park and wanted me to do a project for them. I start one project and another and another.”
Barrionuevo grew up in San Isidro, about 20 kilometres north of Argentina’s capital city Buenos Aires.
He was just 17 when he painted his first mural in his home town.
“That was the village where I started my first murals, after that I started to paint in the capital,” he said.
His art is now scattered across the
globe, with many pieces featuring in the Argentinian capital as well as European countries such as Spain and Germany.
“It started as a hobby, but then people started to ask me to paint more, so it’s becoming a job,” Barrionuevo said.
He said he was enjoying having an opportunity to discover a new culture and connect with Australian people.
“I really didn’t imagine it was going to be like this, but I think if you really like what you do and express yourself, you always find opportunities,” he said.
“I love to paint nature, so I’m get
ting really inspired Australia.”
Barrionuevo said it was a relief to be in Australia where the COVID-19 pandemic was ‘under control’ compared with his home country where the average daily infection rate was about 13,000.
“My family say the situation back home is very bad, so I try to just enjoy my time here,” he said.
“In this situation here, we are really good, compared with other countries.”
Barrionuevo is now travelling the south coast of Victoria and seeking more mural-painting opportunities across the state. all the time in