The ragingly popular Cirque du Soleil® has just held its first showing of  all 16 original paintings that make up its SAFEWALLS collection, a project that melds the vintage circus poster with today’s street art.

Every month, the Canadian-based circus phenomenon asks three cutting-edge artists to create  posters inspired by Cirque du Soleil shows that also celebrate the street culture built into Cirque’s DNA.  Limited edition prints and (yes, see above) iPhone covers are available for fans.  Cirque exhibits small groups of the works where its shows are playing around the world.  Last month, it brought them together for the first time for an exhibit in Las Vegas.  These are from the Corteo and Zarkana shows.

To get a glimpse of the talent behind the posters, take a look at the artists responsible for the iPhone covers.  Tara McPherson focused on Mandragora, one of four female characters of Cirque du Soleil® Zarkana™, depicting the great pose she’s in when she first appears on stage.

The Spanish  artist Nuria Mora did an abstract composition inspired by trapezes, wires and balloons from the show Corteo™.  Also from Corteo™, Miss Van centered her whole creation on the character of Helicon player, focusing on the sensuality of Cirque du Soleil’s female performers.