These Rock Pigeons Chose the Trees by Adele Renault

Adele Renault (1988) is a Belgian painter known for her realistic portraits that appear on small canvases as well as large-scale murals. Her exploration of classical paintings motivated her to explore portraiture as a genre in street art. Renault is fascinated by the inconspicuous beauty of everyday objects and subjects and is inspired by painting portraits of the marginalised, such as the elderly, the homeless and also the pigeons, all in a hyper-realistic style.

Adele has participated in important street art showcases such as Urban Nation Berlin, Lollapalooza, North West Walls Belgium, amongst others and is also the founder of Unruly Gallery in Amsterdam with Niels Shoeman.

Over the years, Adele has been framing one of the most common sights in cities across the world that are often considered very ordinary - pigeons. In her murals, these creatures emanate a quiet grace and irresistible force of life thanks to her sheer talent in depicting them with photo-realistic simplicity.

In Lodhi Colony, as part of this continuous practice, Adele used the photos she took of the birds as a base for this mural. Disassociating with their usual environment and scale, she enlarged the bird, flooded it with sunlight to highlight the magnificent features of the creature that often go unnoticed - its layered eyes and the majestic hues within the feathers.

When viewed up close, the piece reveals these details with immense intricacy. However, if seen through the pavement across the street, one can see a poetic fusion created between the birds and Lodhi’s unique architecture, specifically the arch and the abundant greenery around it.