Street art has occupied every imaginable urban surface. Until recently, the sky was the only exception. But Judith de Leeuw has changed that. A few weeks ago, the Dutch artist created what can be considered the world’s first street art work executed in freefall, during a skydive over Spain. An extreme gesture — but not one made for its own sake.
At the heart of the project is Jessy, a girl Judith De Leeuw met inside a closed youth institution. An encounter that grew into a year of shared work, quiet growth that became increasingly visible. A girl who once dreamed of becoming an artist — and who, with this work, has become one.
The young people living in these institutions, De Leeuw says, often report feeling invisible — surrounded by voices, yet rarely truly heard. Lost Dreamers grows out of that contradiction and sets out to reverse it: to lift their story literally upward, making it impossible to ignore. The project is supported by Het vergeten kind, Postcode Loterij, Skydive Spain and Straat Museum. A documentary is in production.
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