Butterflies, moths, and other insects have fascinated artists for centuries, but Youri Cansell’s fascination with these creatures is literally larger than life. The French artist, also known as Mantra, became a true sensation thanks to his large-scale butterfly murals.
Mantra’s murals can be found everywhere from New York and Mexico to several European countries, and they share several major similarities. His art is informed by his love for nature, and he enjoys making his murals as life-like as possible, paying very close attention to detail.
“Mantra is especially fascinated by entomology, the world of insects. Mining memories of his childhood garden in France, he now paints exquisite murals, often of moths and butterflies, on urban surfaces where these ephemeral beings are seldom seen in the wild,” reads Mantra’s official website.
When creating his murals, Mantra made it his priority to craft works of art that have an organic relationship with their surroundings. In addition to brightening up cities around the world, his murals are also meant to address pressing global issues.
He sometimes depicts butterflies on the move, flying free and resting on flowers, but that’s not always the case. Many of his murals show them in exhibit cases, and they’re meant to address the loss of biodiversity.
