Around the World: The Artists Creating Murals That Last Generations
- Jul 28
- 5 min read
What do some of the world's most respected mural artists have in common? They create work with the future in mind.
A mural can transform a blank wall into a landmark. It can preserve history, celebrate culture and give a community a renewed sense of place. But for many artists, creating the artwork is only half the challenge. The greater question is: how will it look in twenty, fifty or even one hundred years?
Every mural begins to age the moment the final brushstroke is applied. Sunlight fades pigments. Moisture works its way into walls. Pollution dulls colours. Thermal movement stresses coatings, and over time many conventional paints begin to chalk, crack or peel.
For artists whose work becomes part of the public realm, material selection is no longer simply a technical decision—it becomes part of their artistic philosophy.
Around the world, a growing number of internationally recognised muralists are choosing KEIM Mineral Paints because they share a common ambition: to create artworks that outlive them.
From Australia's largest mural to heritage buildings across Europe and monumental trompe-l'œil paintings in North America, these artists are proving that permanence can be every bit as important as creativity.
Guido van Helten: Creating Murals That Belong to the Landscape
Few contemporary muralists have reshaped public art quite like Australian artist Guido van Helten.
Known for his monumental monochromatic portraits, Van Helten's work stretches across Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, Greece, Jordan, Iraq, the United States and Tahiti. His murals often portray ordinary people connected to extraordinary places, telling deeply local stories at an architectural scale.
Yet despite their size, his works never feel imposed on a building.
Instead, they appear to emerge from it.
That quality is no accident.
Van Helten's painting technique relies on delicate translucent layers that allow the texture, colour and imperfections of the substrate to remain visible. Rather than covering concrete or masonry, he embraces it as part of the composition.
This philosophy made KEIM Mineral Paints a natural choice.
Unlike conventional acrylic coatings, KEIM chemically bonds with mineral substrates through silicification. The result is a finish that feels inseparable from the building itself—an ideal medium for an artist whose work is intended to become part of the architecture rather than simply decorate it. Nowhere is this philosophy more evident than Reflections, the monumental mural covering Wellington Dam in Western Australia.
Spanning approximately 8,000 square metres, it is recognised as the world's largest dam mural. The project depicts members of the Collie community, celebrating local identity while transforming a piece of engineering infrastructure into an internationally recognised cultural landmark.
The dam presents one of the harshest painting environments imaginable. Constant UV exposure, fluctuating temperatures, heavy rainfall and water overflow demanded a coating capable of enduring extreme conditions without sacrificing artistic integrity.
Van Helten has explained that he wants his murals to remain for future generations—not simply survive for a few years. That long-term thinking aligned perfectly with KEIM's mineral technology and naturally lightfast pigments.
The result is a mural that doesn't appear painted onto the dam.
It feels as though it has always belonged there.
Erik Nicolaisen: Thinking Beyond Opening Day
Every mural attracts attention when it is first unveiled.
Few people stop to think about what it will look like in ten years.
American artist Erik Nicolaisen, founder of Old City Artists, believes they should.
Old City Artists has produced large-scale murals throughout North America, often working closely with councils, architects and developers on projects intended to revitalise public spaces.
For Nicolaisen, material performance is inseparable from artistic success.
He has spoken openly about selecting KEIM because of its exceptional colour stability, particularly for vibrant colours that traditionally struggle under prolonged UV exposure.
The ability to maintain crisp, saturated colours over decades allows artists to remain confident that the work future generations experience closely resembles the work originally created.
Old City Artists also frequently incorporates KEIM's protective anti-graffiti systems into public projects.
Rather than treating vandalism as an unavoidable consequence of urban art, these protective coatings help preserve murals while allowing buildings to remain active parts of the public realm.
It's another reminder that successful public art isn't simply about creating beautiful work.
It's about ensuring it remains beautiful.
Justin Venn: Rediscovering the Tradition of Fresco
While many contemporary muralists focus on urban environments, South African artist Justin Venn approaches mural painting from a very different perspective.
Through StudioSanctus, Venn creates monumental sacred artworks inspired by centuries of Byzantine painting and Renaissance fresco traditions.
His philosophy centres on permanence.
Historic frescoes continue to inspire audiences hundreds of years after they were painted because the pigment became physically integrated with the plaster beneath it.
Rather than sitting on the surface, the artwork became part of the building.
KEIM's silicate technology offered Venn a contemporary material with remarkably similar qualities.
Instead of relying on synthetic film-forming coatings, mineral paint chemically bonds with masonry to create an enduring finish that retains the natural character of the wall.
For artists inspired by traditional techniques, the connection is profound.
Modern mineral paint isn't replacing historic methods.
In many ways, it is continuing them.
The Material Shapes the Message
Although Guido van Helten, Erik Nicolaisen and Justin Venn create dramatically different work, their practices reveal a common philosophy. Each sees the wall as more than a canvas.
It is part of the artwork.
Whether painting monumental portraits, architectural illusions, contemporary urban interventions or sacred interiors, the building itself plays an active role in the finished piece.
KEIM's mineral technology supports this approach because it allows the substrate to continue expressing its natural texture and character beneath the paint.
Concrete remains concrete.
Masonry remains masonry.
The mural doesn't conceal the building.
It completes it.
Why Permanence Matters More Than Ever
Around the world, cities are investing more heavily in public art than ever before.
Large-scale murals attract tourism, activate underused spaces, strengthen community identity and transform everyday infrastructure into places of cultural significance.
But these projects also represent substantial public investment. Commissioning a mural involves artists, architects, engineers, access specialists, community consultation and months of planning.
Choosing a coating expected to require significant restoration within a decade undermines that investment.
That's why councils, developers and artists are increasingly considering lifecycle performance alongside artistic merit. When a mural is created using mineral paint that becomes chemically bonded with the substrate, maintenance requirements are reduced and colour stability is dramatically improved.
The artwork has a better opportunity to fulfil its original purpose—not just for today's audience, but for future generations as well.
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