Stepping into the latest KAF venue, The Key Burger Bar & Boogie, patrons are greeted by larger-than-life characters seemingly jumping off the walls, alongside illustrations of some familiar neighborhood spaces. The art welcomes you in, inviting you to sit with it and look closer.
This illustrated universe, which also appears on the venue’s new website, is the work of a group of St. Louis-based Cuban designers and Illustrators, Raul Valdés (a.k.a. Raupa), Nelson Ponce, Juan Carlos Polo (from Havana) and Carlos Zamora from Cartel Design. Valdés and Ponce were working at Cartel as artists in residence from Havana when the project began.
“We went to see the place and then they felt that the space had the same feeling as a venue in Cuba called the Fábrica de Arte Cubano, which has been selected by TIME magazine as one of the top destinations in the world to visit. It has the same post-industrial vibe. Our designer, Nelson Ponce, is the current director of this institution,” Zamora says. “So, I came up with this idea that it would be fun to have a sister sort of institution. I’m a Cuban immigrant, and on my team there are a bunch of Cubans, and we are always doing our best to bring talent to St. Louis because the culture is so rich and St. Louis has that feel of an old classic city like Havana.”
The concept began with some initial sketches by Raupa featuring a voluptuous, tattooed woman eating a burger. This set the tone for the style, and then Polo and the rest of the team began illustrating, creating a whole library of characters to expand the visual universe of The Key, springing up around its fluid logo. They then brought in references to the neighborhood and St. Louis’ cultural history.
“The illustrations create the world and become a storytelling component. They pull you in,” says Zamora. “When you arrive at the place and you see all that energy and all those beautiful illustrations from Juan Carlos Polo, you feel like this is a hidden jewel. This is the next best kept secret of St. Louis.”
The Key continues its soft opening over the next several weeks with a grand opening planned for early November.
