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Art

Fine and Street Art Aesthetics Merge in Anthony Lister’s Expressive Murals

Australian artist Anthony Lister paints illustrative murals that blur the line between street art and fine art. The subjects on his walls range from figurative paintings of dancing ballerinas, to large scale portraits with rosy cheeks and red noses. Lister’s unique style is a result of his early influences and experience with graffiti, as well as his formal art education at Queensland College of Art and mentorship with New Zealand artist Max Gimblett.

For Lister, blending styles and exploring aesthetic ideas through what he calls “adventure painting” is something that came with time. “I used to try and keep all of my disciplines quite separate from each other, or at least I thought that was what I was doing,” he told Lost At E Minor. “Over time, I slowly let go of keeping one style and approach isolated from the other and so they quite organically and slowly merged to be what it is today.”

Explaining the difference in emotion between his studio work and his street faces (and why he use his full name for the former and his surname for the latter), Lister told LiveFastMag that “a face on the street represents freedom. When I’m painting on the street I don’t want to sweat over problems that I don’t feel comfortable solving in the public world or in front of an audience, because that’s often what painting in public turns into. [In the studio] I’m thinking conceptually and aesthetically, reflecting about anti-beauty, adventure painting and problem solving; whereas on the street I try to keep it simpler for myself.”

Anthony Lister has an upcoming solo exhibition titled “Modern Masters” opening at Mirus Gallery in Denver, Colorado on September 6. For updates on the show and to see more of his studio work and street art, follow Lister on Instagram.

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Art Design

The Full English Alphabet Painted on Store Shutters in 26 Different Fonts by Ben Eine

PHOTO CREDIT: OurTypes 2019

Nearly a decade after completing the “Alphabet Street” project in East London, English artist Ben Eine has again painted all 26 letters from A to Z on over 40 shop shutters. “Alphabet City 2.0” uses 26 bespoke fonts and a wide range of spray paint colors to transform the area into a vibrant street art destination.

Made in association with Global Street Art and the Poplar Housing and Regeneration Community Association (HARCA), the “Alphabet Street” shows the evolution of Eine’s style over the past 30 years. Bold letters emerge from the metal shutters with deep drop shadows and layered graphic elements. Each glyph has its own personality and dimensionality that allows it to stand alone while also being a part of the larger set.

It’s that exploration of type that Eine and his team are bringing to clients with their new creative agency; “Alphabet Street” also marks the launch of Eine’s new creative design studio, Our Types. “Our minds are always busy, even when sleeping, it refuses to rest,” he said in a statement. “It is the only true tool for manipulating the world about us. Our Types is going to be the visual drug your brain has been looking for.”

To learn more about Our Types’ fonts and projects, visit the agency’s website. To see more of Ben Eine’s street art, follow the artist/creative director on Instagram.

Art Illustration

Melancholy Creatures Explore Imagined Worlds in Wistful Murals by Hayley Welsh

Hayley Welsh’s playful murals pair imaginative creatures with universal messages of uplift and encouragement. Often featuring furry, plump critters that seem to be hybrids of dogs, rabbits, and teddy bears, Welsh’s subjects peer through periscopes atop mechanical fish or aboard paper boats, tug clouds from penny farthing bicycles, and sprout trees as antlers. Occasionally, Basquiat-esque crown motifs appear as well.

In a statement on her website, Welsh’s “ominously soft” work “explores inner voices of self doubt and fear, weaving a poignant narrative into every piece⁠—a message for each person to reflect on in the moment.” The British-born artist lives and works between Perth, Australia and Blackburn, U.K. Explore more of her outdoor and gallery-based artwork on her website and Instagram.

Art

Competing Points of View Find Unity in a Basketball Court Mural by AkaCorleone

Portuguese artist AkaCorleone recently repainted a public basketball court in Lisbon, Portugal to emphasize the unification of differing points of view. The mural, located in Campo dos Mártires da Pátria, covers a public 46 x 82 foot wide court in pink, yellow, and blue. Its figures—a woman holding the Earth and a bespectacled man—sit at opposing sides of the court much like the flipped profiles of Jack, Queen, or King playing cards. According to the artist’s statement the piece, titled “BALANCE,” is intended to demonstrate the coming together of separate forces, especially in the neighborhood and on the court.

“The search for a true balance, a perfect duality between two people, two teams, two sides, two realities, is hard to achieve, but it’s possible,” AkaCorleone explained. “The concept behind the art for this project was to play with the notion of duality, of two different points of view, two different sides that complement each other like to opposite versions of the same reality that can only be understood as one.”

If you are interested in sports-oriented murals, you might also like this technicolor basketball court created in collaboration between fashion brand Pigalle and design agency Ill-Studio, or the beautiful works produced in public parks by Project Backboard. You can find more of AkaCorleone’s outdoor murals and paintings on his website and Instagram. (via Street Art News)

Art

Playful Illustrative Characters Span Brightly Painted Walls by Joachim

Belgian street artist Joachim paints vibrant murals that look as if they were torn from the pages of a very large children’s book. His illustrative style brings humor and color to walls and structures in cities across the world. Joachim first discovered graffiti and street art as a six-year-old child in Antwerp. As an adult, he began experimenting with various styles both on walls and on canvases as a way to grow and develop his own aesthetic, separate from the work he had done in art school.

From 88-foot-tall underpass pillars in Austria to one-story quickies, what connects each of the artist’s murals is his use of bold lines, dynamic poses, contrast, and the playful spirit that he infuses into every piece. Two recent murals in Antwerp, where much of his art can be found on walls throughout the city, were made in collaboration with local schoolchildren. Joachim created the outlines of a stylized horse and bull, and then kids held their (gloved) hands up to be spray painted, their silhouettes creating the textured surface of each animal.

To see more of Joachim’s fun paintings and for updates on the two currently-secret solo gallery shows that he is currently working on, give him a follow and a like on Instagram and Facebook.

Art

Italian Artist Peeta Blends Graffiti and Abstract Forms Into Optical Illusion Murals

Italian artist Peeta (previously) combines elements of graffiti and abstract art to paint murals that appear to morph and dissolve architectural structures. Abstract shapes swirl around and cut into walls to form M.C. Escher-like scenes that play tricks on the eyes and change depending on the viewing angle.

For the 2019 Stadt.Wand.Kunst mural project, Peeta painted a geometrical design onto a building on a street corner in Mannheim, Germany. Using sharp lines, curved forms, and different shades of blue, white, and grey, Peeta visually altered the structure’s edge and created a new impossible facade. “I loved this building since the beginning and I tried my best to combine multidisciplinary skills to transform it while keeping its original taste,” the artist wrote on Instagram. As with much of his other work, the limited color palette of the mural helps to sell the illusion and contrast the piece against the surrounding architecture.

Check out a few more of Peeta’s recent 3D murals below and follow his worldly travels on Instagram. (via Visual Fodder)

Art

A Collaboratively Painted ‘Mural of Brotherhood’ Stretches for Over a Mile on Mexico’s Border

All photographs courtesy of Enrique Chiu

Over the past two and a half years, nearly 4,000 volunteers have converged on the US/Mexico border to assist artist Enrique Chiu with painting a mural. Chiu began the project on Election Day in 2016, and once his collaborative project is complete, the “Mural of Brotherhood” will span a mile of Mexico’s border frontage in Tijuana. Shorter segments will also be created in other regions to connect the project to the southern edge of the border. The wide range of styles, including written phrases and more illustrative narratives reflects the diversity of those who have worked alonside Chiu to complete the expansive mural.

Chiu was born in Mexico and has spent 14 years living in the U.S., both as a child and as an adult. However, he re-rooted himself in Tijuana’s vibrant arts scene ten years ago. In an interview with Hyperallergic Chiu explained, “the murals spread messages of peace to people crossing the border by car or on foot,” and are “intended to be a final glimpse of hope for migrants risking danger as they cross northward.”

A recently released documentary by Alejandro Arguelles Benitez follows the project. You can watch the trailer below, and track the progress of the mural on Instagram. (via Hyperallergic)