Heart of the Earth: Elian Chali’s ‘Youtopia’ Geometry Mural for Calle libra, Vienna
In his mural Heart of the Earth, Argentine artist Elian Chali continues to expand a visual language that blurs the boundaries between architecture, abstraction, and emotion. Conceived as part of Calle Libre’s 2025 edition, Youtopia, the work embodies the festival’s invitation to imagine the world not just as it is, but as it could be… a collective canvas of possibility.
Alongside Elian Chali, Youtopia brought together an inspiring constellation of international artists whose diverse practices explore identity, emotion, and spatial transformation: Mariana Santos, Mariella Lehner, Mohamed L’Ghacham, Nut, Paola Delfín, Perkup, Tima, Fritten Freddie, and OSA Seven.
For this years festival, Elian Chali beautifully embodies his ongoing dialogue with urban space: an act of subtle disruption and renewal, in which architecture becomes both canvas and collaborator.
The Mural location is Lichtensterngasse 13, 1120 Wien, Vienna, Austria. Image copyright Elian Chali
Through the reduction of visual elements into soft geometry and colour tension, Elian Chali creates a composition that feels both disciplined and fluid. The mural’s vertical rhythm cuts through the building’s linearity, while flowing curves evoke a sense of internal movement, as if thick lava is rising from the core of the Earth itself. The piece becomes an organic counterpoint to its urban setting, an eruption of form that reconnects the city to its elemental origins.
The Mural location is Lichtensterngasse 13, 1120 Wien, Vienna, Austria. Image copyright Elian Chali
The title, Heart of the Earth, also invokes the slow, steady force of lava, a natural metaphor for resilience, transformation, and the unseen power beneath our feet. Lava is a creation on time and pressure, on how change often happens imperceptibly, shaping both landscapes and societies. In this way, Elian Chali’s work engages in its metamorphosis, reawakening our perception of the built environment as a space of continual becoming.
The Mural location is Lichtensterngasse 13, 1120 Wien, Vienna, Austria. Image copyright Elian Chali
Within the context of Youtopia, Elian Chali’s mural feels like a meditation on inner landscapes and collective change. It transforms public space into a site of introspection, urging us to listen to the quiet power beneath our own surfaces.