b.1983 Mx City “I’ve been very interested in developing deep positive messages that constructively influence the people who see them” Transforming Mexico City Walls: Interview with Bernardo Sánchez Navarro Iturbe, Cultura Colectiva, 2015 Paola Beck is best known for her social practice where she aims to change negative social dynamics through public space transformation with community participation. Her large scale mural paintings demonstrate her concern in creating positive messages with significant content. Her work shows profound emotion with deployment of strong color, overlapping sources and inspirations, with repetitive themes like portraits, nature, flowers and animals. Moving back and forth to the beach and with strong reminicences of her childhood in Germany, Beck encounters her german landscapes nostalgia with urban context and environmental awareness. Beck is focused in creating social consciousness and cohesion; in Mexico, where social differences are very strong, she has created a collaborative way of thinking, by inviting other artists to participate in the social artistic matter of the city landscape. Her style is highly intense and non-realistic, brushstrokes can be loose and gestural: typically free. Acrylic applications tend to be generous and highly textured and occasionally dripped. Her body of work tends to be emotional and sometimes mystical. Beck has incorporated her work with popular culture in collaborations with musical bands like Dirty Karma and Lebaron, as well as Life Action Painting (2010, Zwischenraum Festival, Berlin, Germany; Código, Design Festival, Mexico City) Her practice includes different media such as drawing, collage, illustration, painting, sculpture and diverse materials like wood, paper, acrylic, marble and stone.

Estamos observando / We are watching This mural represents nature and children observing us, adults, and how we behave on behalf of our planet. In front of the wall is the Marina Puerto Los Cabos, from where daily tours depart to see the humbackwhales among many other ocean species, and to fish. Beside the marina is La Playita, a small bay where locals go with their families. It is a place with much movement and all kinds of people, locals, fishermen, tourists and children, which made it made specially interesting to work there. Baja California Sur is an area with one of the most important natural reserves in the world, the Sea de Cortés. The Gulf is thought to be one of the most diverse seas on the planet, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Nevertheless, it seemed to me that there was no connection to the real value and importance of this place. The water was full with plastic and bottles floating. It felt like a crucial moment to spread an important message, to preserve our oceans and do radical changes in our waste production and life styles. What planet are we leaving to the future (and present) generation? Room 304 During my artist residency at Hotel El Ganzo in Los Cabos, BCS, Mexico, I stayed at room 304. I left some tropical pieces here and there.