Enigmatic Escif

Escif have a special place in my heart and his street art makes you think. His murals are often simple and figural. It's a message in his paitings. A philosophical comment to a actual issue or a contemporay problem or dilemma in our society.

Escif lives and works in Valencia, Spain. He makes wall paintings and murals all over the world. In an interview Escif said: "I understand the painting as an exercise of reflection that can be shared with people. I´m not looking for decorative paintings, I try to wake up viewers' minds."

In 2011 Escif visited Bergen and did several paintings. The mural above is made on "Kvarteret", the student's house in Bergen. Escifs paintings in Bergen focused on the theme "greed" and he connected this theme to our natural resources; Water, Oil and Wealth. I took the photo on a nice evening in town. The obvious thought when I saw this picture is: It rains a lot in Bergen! Thats true, but the more deeper reflection seems, for me, to be about "we have much more than we need" and the problem with that can be: "too much will ruin or ultimately kill us". So, too much fortune can be unfortunate for our spirit, humanity and happiness. It may restrict us as humans rather than enrich us. Thats something to think about!

You might see some more works by Escif here and together with Escif I choose a song from Tracy Chapman: Crossroads. (You can listen by clicking on the link or better, click on the play button in the box below).

C215: City Portraits!

I took this photo this summer (2012) in Paris. I was sitting on the tube on my way to a public park, Bois De Vincennes, right outside the centre of Paris. The train had just crossed the river Seine when I spotted this piece of street art. I forgot about the park for a while and jumped off at the next station and walked back to the river and took a closer look. The signature, C215, was familiar to me. I had seen works of this artist in Bergen, Oslo and London before. 

C215 is a nickname where C stands for Christian which is his real name and 215 is the number of the room where he decided to be an artist, full time. His full name is Christian Guemy and have not been as secretive about his real identity as Banksy. C215 started with stencil art in 2006 and uses a self developed and advanced stencil technique in making his street art. He is known for making illegal works in broad day light and work on several pieces simultaneously in the same area. This video gives and impression of how C215 works. His motives are various, but mostly portraits of humans (e.g. beggars, street kids, homeless people), his daughter and cats. Motives that fit quite well in their urban environment and he seems to avoid prosecution or other forms of sanctions for his work.

It was a lovely day in Paris and my walk in Bois De Vincennes was beautiful. My interest for street art have trained my eye to see and find art in the urban environment. I pick Downtown Train by Tom Waits to accompany this post (click on the link or "play" button below to listen).

Phlegm: Archaic fantasy!

  

The strange figures and fantasy murals of the artist Phlegm are unique in the street art world. His murals looks like huge black and white pencil drawings. And yes, many of his spray painted murals orginates from his illustrations and comics.

Phlegm is born in North Wales and is now based in Sheffield UK. In the greek language Phlegm means "inflammation, humour caused by heat" and refers to the thick and sticky mucus secreted by the respiratory tract. In other words, snot. In ancient and medieval physiology, phlegm was reagarded as one of the four humours of the body (together with blood, black bile and yellow bile), thought to cause sluggishness and apathy. See more Phlegm art work here.

I took this picture in Stavanger, Norway. Phlegms surreal murals makes me think about life in a different, weird and slow civilization of ideas and dreams. A gentle world. His figures often looks like they concentrate on something important, something basic and "larger than life" at the same time. 

Together with Phlegm comes "Breathe me" with Sia (play the song by clicking on the link or "play" button in the box below).

Roa: London Calling

I love Shoreditch, the main place for Street Art and Graffiti in east London. Street Artist from all over the world have left their works for us to see in the streets like a big open air gallery. The big bird on the picture is made by Roa. Roa makes big, mostly black and white, art works of birds and fury animals on derelict buildings. Alive, dead or sleeping animals, sometimes slaughtered or "x-rayed". Raw, provocative and weird murals placed very visibly in the city environment. Roa comes is from Belgium and became known in the UK when when the local council wanted his painted Rabbit removed from a wall in the Hackney area in 2010. A campaign by local residents forced the council to change their mind. Read more in The Guardian article here.

I took this picture in London february 2012 and was astonished by this and other art works in the area. Roa has a very distinct and different style in the street art world and reaches a broad audience. Even if his weird and naturalistic figures seems misplaced and sometimes brutally displayed, they are beautiful, graceful and spectacular. They strum archetypical strings burried deep in our minds. See some more of his art work here!

Along with Roa comes "London Calling" with The Clash!  (Click on the link or the "play" button on the box below to play the song).

Eine: Letters into words that make you think!

Im a big fan of Eine. Ben Eine have done graffiti and streetart for about 20 years and have been arrested a numerous times for his graffiti works around London. His interest in typography tranformed him into a street artist who work with big letters, typography and usually forming words or small sentences. Ben Eine is the "street artist who made it to the white house". When David Cameron visited Barack Obama in July 2010, he gave Obama a screen print made by Eine which read "TWENTY FIRST CENTURY CITY". A brilliant peace of work and Ben Eine later, in an interview, said:

"It's quite mad, really," says Eine whose early creative life as a particularly productive graffiti artist earned him 15 or 20 arrests, five convictions for criminal damage and, on the final occasion, a narrow escape from jail. "But it's OK. It's not the kind of recognition I seek or get every day, but Cameron seems quite a positive kind of guy and Obama's a dude. I would probably have had issues if it had been for Bush."

I first saw Eines work here in Bergen on the wall of the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH), which read: "CONTROVERSIAL CALCULATE CASH”. Big colourful letters. First, I thought is was some kind of commercial. But the text did not make immediate sense and did not refer to any known brand or product. I became curious and photographed the wall (See the work here). I did some research and discovered Ben Eine.

On a trip to London in february 2012, I spotted the work pictured above right ouside the tube station on Old Street. I just love it! See more of Eines work at Eine Diary. Together with Eines work I have chosen "Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan (click the link or the "play" button below!)

Vhils: Scratching the surface

The portuguese street artist Alexandre Farto, commonly known as Vhils, have an unique take on street art.  He converts the wall to a scratchboard, chipping away the plaster and remove the negative space with a weathered touch. The wall becomes the subject itself and his portraits grows out of the wall. I first saw Vhils work in the streets London and was amazed by his technique and style. Since then, I've seen his works in the streets of Paris, Berlin and Stavanger.

With Vhils wall portraits, I get the feeling that "the wall" is trying to tell me something. Maybe make me aware of the sacrifices that some humans do for the sake of humanity and against oppression and that others pains and struggles have secured my own freedom and welfare.

The summer of 2012, I was lucky to see a solo exhibition of Vhils in Paris. I often find that artist that do work in the streets doesn’t work very well inside, as art in a gallery. Vhils works did well in the gallery. Using his unique scratching and chipping technique on doors, iron plates and styrofoam making smaller scale portraits.

I took the picture above in Stavanger, Norway, april 2012. "The fisherman" was made for the nuart festival in Stavanger 2010 and the huge portrait still looks strikingly fresh!

Together with this image I choose "Fisherman's Blues" by the Waterboys (click the link or the "play" button below!).

Dolk: The pay phone!

This is one of the most well preserved stencil in the streets of Bergen made by Dolk. I took the picture on an october night in 2011 on my way home from town. It's located, pretty hidden, in a backyard near the legendary pub Garage. I'm not sure when this was made, but its a long time since Dolk did work in the streets of Bergen (Norway). I read somewhere that he did his last works here around 2006. Not because he stopped doing street art, quite contrary. In 2006 he was invited by Banksy to London to join the "Santa's Ghetto" festival. Since then, Dolk have worked all over the world at street art festivals and exhibitions. Today he is among the world's most recognised street artists. Since 2008, he has also taken street art out of it's urban environment and given lots of recognition for his works on deserted wooden houses at the rural coast of Lofoten (Norway).

Dolk Lundgren was born in Bergen 1979 and little is known publicly about his background. Dolk Lundgren is a pseudonym, his signature, from the days he did illegal works in the streets of Bergen. Despite his fame as an artist, he has kept his real identity hidden from the general public.

Dolk's images are highly thought through and gives an imediate reaction or perception that stays with you long after you've walked past. Their sometimes funny and contradictory in style; Combining iconic figures, persons or symbols with a touch of sarcasm as a comment on actual issues or more enduring issues in society. E.g. when he pictured Prince Charles with a Burger King hat. Another line of his images often have an emotional undertone that supports the lonely, the different and the neglected soul (often a child). I think the image above is along that line.

Dolk Lundgren lives in Melbourne where he study art and travel the world doing art on the streets! Along with this image I choose Decoder Ring feat. Lenka (from the movie Somersault): Somersault (Score) (Click on the link or the "play" button in the box below to listen).