Joseph Ford x MadC - Impossible Street Art

Limited edition archival pigment photographs printed on Canson Baryta Prestige 340gsm paper. Joseph signs and numbers each piece on the front.

60 x 45cm, Limited Edition of 15
120 x 90cm, Limited Edition of 5 

I was thrilled to collaborate with famed German artist MadC on this piece. She is renowned for her expansive, outdoor murals that transform spaces into vibrant works of art. They explode with vivid kaleidoscopic colours, seamlessly blended with gradients and transparent overlays. She was the perfect artist to paint the gigantic 225 meter / 740 feet Luzzone dam in Ticino, Switzerland. 

I photographed the dam in spring 2022, and gave MadC a 100x70cm print, where she brought her world of colour to this huge grey wall. I returned in 2024 to photograph the completed collaborative piece, slightly later in the year, creating a contrast between the original snowy mountain behind the dam and the verdant early summer foliage visible around the print.

Information about Impossible Street Art

In this project my starting point was to imagine if street artists could work on any surface, not restricted by scale, accessibility, safety or rules. By challenging these conventions I explore the tensions between artistic expression and the restrictions imposed by social norms and governments. I have photographed landscapes that would be amazing for a street artist to paint, but are impossible to paint for real, because they're too big or inaccessible. 

I have chosen some of my favourite street artists and given them large photographic prints, which they have painted to create original, hand-made artworks with no digital manipulation.

I then re-shoot each artwork on an easel in its original location, creating captivating windows into a parallel universe where street artists have been given free rein.