100  Years of Solitude  
April 18–28,  2023

Graffiti artist Daniel Anguilu’s mural at Northeastern formally kicked off the University’s Public Art Initiative in 2014. After nearly a decade we invited the artist back to campus to create a new mural at the same location.    Anguilu ’s style of magical realism incorporates painting with abstract shapes, animal imagery, and vibrant color to create artwork with roots in both Mexican indigenous art as well as street art and graffiti. His art has become increasingly more visible around his hometown of Houston, and he has painted murals in the United  States, Mexico, Peru, and Italy.

Anguilu originally painted  the wall of the stairway and ramp leading to a  pedestrian bridge that traverses the MBTA tracks and connects the Columbus Avenue  parking garage to Northeastern’s  Boston campus in 2014. After doing some repair work to the wall,  the University invited the artist to create a new artwork at the same location. Within his vibrant mural are images of birds, faces, portals, and abstract representations of daily life.

The mural references One Hundred Years of Solitude, a novel by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez, who died just days before Anguilu arrived on campus in 2014.  Anguilu read portions of the book during his stay at Northeastern and, inspired, named the mural in the author’s honor. The meaning behind the novel has changed for the artist over the years, and so has the world. With this new mural Anguilu hopes to more fully capture the meaning of the novel citing that García Márquez’ work is even more relevant now than it was a decade ago.

Anguilu expanded and added new elements to the mural in 2018 and returned in 2023 to create this new artwork at the same location.