Tag Archives: murals

The Street Art and Paintings of Wes21

The Street Art and Paintings of Wes21 street art science fiction painting murals

Swiss artist Remo Lienhard (aka Wes21) has an imagination to kill for. His acrylic and spray paint works are explosively detailed and often depict a sort of dystopian fusion of people and the natural world. Though despite the grittiness and abundance of detail found in each of his works it’s clear he also possesses a keen sense of humor. Lienhard belongs to a collective of graffiti artists and illustrators called Schwarzmaler where you can find much more of his street art and other works. Also don’t miss him over on Facebook. (via street art utopia which has a killer roundup of street art this month)

Update: Wes21 is represented by SOON where you can learn more about his work.

Spray Painted Faces Merge in New Graffiti from iNO

Spray Painted Faces Merge in New Graffiti from iNO street art murals graffiti

This video featuring Athens-based graffiti writer iNO perfectly captures his ability to turn quick gestures with a spray can into something that almost looks as if it was produced with aid of a camera. Many of the artist’s interior and exterior works incorporate the idea of two faces or figures merging, either morphing into each other or growing outwardly. Watch the video above to see it all come together. (via colossal submissions)

By Christopher on April 1, 2013 • graffiti murals street art

3D Graffiti and Paintings by Peeta

3D Graffiti and Paintings by Peeta painting murals graffiti 3d

Italian graffiti writer, painter and sculptor Manuel Di Rita (aka Peeta) lives and works in Venice where since 2000 he has risen to international fame for his unique 3D graffiti style. Using a variety of shading, gradients and shadows his work often appears to be hovering just off the surface on which it is painted. Peeta not only creates work in public spaces but also creates similar figures with paint on cavas as well as sculptures. Above is a mixture of artworks both old and new, and you can see much more over on Flickr and at Ayden Gallery.

By Christopher on March 26, 2013 • 3d graffiti murals painting

Sugar Murals and Cake Icing Graffiti by Shelley Miller

Sugar Murals and Cake Icing Graffiti by Shelley Miller street art murals graffiti food cake

Using materials that for centuries have been reserved as tasty decoration the finest cakes and pastries, Montreal-based artist Shelley Miller attacks brick walls and deteriorating urban surfaces with cake icing to create ornate scrolls and decorative motifs. While the medium itself is purely culinary, her illustrations and patterns borrow heavily from calligraphy and decorative arabesque scrolls seen in ancient temples and mosques. Another added dimension is its impermanence as the works crack, drip, and melt off the wall, potentially disappearing in just a few days.

Most recently Miller presented an interactive piece at Nuit Blanche in Montreal called Throw-Up, and you can follow updates via blog—check out that book sculpture! (via collabcubed)

By Christopher on October 31, 2012 • cake food graffiti murals street art

ROA Stacks African Animals on a Building Facade in Johannesburg

ROA Stacks African Animals on a Building Facade in Johannesburg street art murals Johannesburg animals

Street artist ROA was recently in Johannesburg where he created this epic new work featuring six enormous African animals lounging on the side of a building. ROA’s work has been popping up everywhere lately including a stop here in Chicago just last month. See many more photos of this latest piece shot by Martha Cooper over on I Art Joburg.

By Christopher on October 30, 2012 • animals Johannesburg murals street art

The Classical Street Art of Borondo

The Classical Street Art of Borondo street art Rome murals

Borondo is an artist out of Spain whose work is loosely based in classical painting techniques, a somewhat uncommon sight in the world of street art. His lage-scale paintings of human figures appear unfinished and camouflaged causing a double take as you squint to see the full detail of each work. Borondo’s first solo show in Italy opens this saturday at 999Gallery in Rome. (via vandalog)

By Christopher on October 23, 2012 • murals Rome street art

One Man, 1,200 Hours, and Over 100 Pencils: City Band, A Monumental Drawing by Chris LaPorte

One Man, 1,200 Hours, and Over 100 Pencils: City Band, A Monumental Drawing by Chris LaPorte murals drawing

Two weeks ago I was fortunate to spend a few days in Grand Rapids, Michigan at ArtPrize 2012, a sprawling international art fair featuring over 1,500 installations by more than 1,700 artists in venues throughout the city including the Grand Rapids Art Museum, the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, as well as countless art galleries, cafes, sidewalks, and even smack dab in the middle of a river. The entire affair centers around popular vote that determines ten winners (a maximum award of $200,000) as well as several juried awards. You can see the 2012 winners here. It was a great trip and I saw more art three days than I’ve seen in person in the past year.

One Man, 1,200 Hours, and Over 100 Pencils: City Band, A Monumental Drawing by Chris LaPorte murals drawing

One of the most outstanding artworks I encountered in Grand Rapids was this gargantuan drawing on exhibit at the GRAM by artist Chris LaPorte who attended the New York Academy of Art and now lives and works in Michigan. By day he works as a caricature artist, having drawn some 85,000 portraits over the last 18 years, but he also spends significant hours in his studio where he labors over gargantuan life-size pencil drawings, one of which actually won the top ArtPrize honor back in 2010. This latest work, City Band, began when LaPorte discovered an 80-year-old photograph of his grandfather’s high school marching band while rummaging through his mother’s basement. The photograph is somewhat blurry and damaged with age, but he decided to use the piece as inspiration for a drawing that now spans 13 x 26 feet and was drawn with over 100 2H pencils spanning roughly 1,200 hours of drawing time.

One Man, 1,200 Hours, and Over 100 Pencils: City Band, A Monumental Drawing by Chris LaPorte murals drawing

It’s important to note that City Band is not a photo-realistic interpretation of an old photograph, a suggestion that’s often made by other who describe LaPorte’s work. The ratio of photo to drawing is 1/540 meaning that the quality of the original image was so poor in relation to the scale of the canvas that the vast majority of details came from the artist’s head as he worked. In that sense the drawing becomes a sort of historical fiction, where LaPorte added myriad details, stories, and patterns all of which center around a theme regarding the unrelenting passing of time, a sort of visual rhythm that pulses through the entire piece.

I urge you to watch the video above by filmmaker Mary Matthews to learn more about the artwork and you can see many more photos over on his recently updated website.

By Christopher on October 15, 2012 • drawing murals

New Murals by David de la Mano and Pablo S. Herrero on the Streets of Norway

New Murals by David de la Mano and Pablo S. Herrero on the Streets of Norway trees street art Norway murals

Three new works today from artists David de la Mano and Pablo S. Herrero who collaborated on the streets of Stavanger and Sandnes in Norway to create these lovely figures made of trees and people. The duo joined forces earlier this year in Uruguay and I’m glad to see them continuing to explore this style in other cities. Definitely check out their respective websites for more photos.