Street art gallery. 2019 December

Editor’s letter It's been six years since I took my first photo of street art in Vilnius. Since then, I have been traveling and taking many photos of street art in the cities of Europe. I call myself a street art collector. My name is Kristina Kurilaitė and today I publish my first street art magazine.

Through both long walks in my hometown Vilnius and trips to other countries I have discovered different forms and styles of street art. From simple stencil art, impressive murals to subtle engravings in the walls – street art culture is living it's golden age.

Here you will discover new or well known street artists, find out about urban art projects, such as Walls that remember in Vilnius or Zaspa mural district in Gdansk.

So let me take you to a short trip to the world of street art through the pages of this magazine.

Content Unique street art techniques: insights from well-known artists Walls that Remember – showing the invisible side of Vilnius The biggest open air gallery in Poland Street art cities – useful tool for travelers

NO. 1 | DECEMBER 2019

Unique street art techniques: insights from well-known artists It's difficult to describe what street art is nowadays. Because there are plenty of urban art techniques and styles you see in the streets. Contemporary artists are searching for new ways to visualize their ideas and to create original urban art in the city. That's why spray paint is not the only one way to create.

I want to show you few artists who found their unique style and technique which, I believe, will surprise you.

Mural created Obey Giant (USA) ir Vhils (Portugal) in Lisbon.

Two artists – two different art styles and techniques.

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"Cat" – the biggest work of Bordalo II in Lisbon, Portugal.

Bordalo II Lisbon based street art artist Bordalo (1987) is a conscious artist that turn urban waste into something meaningful and aesthetic.

He is one the most popular artist in Portugal’s street arts scene. All his works carry out anticonsumerist message that our society consumes too much food, paper, plastic which leads to global climate warming and pollution.

Bordalo II work raises a paradox to make passing stranger think what kind of impact urban waste have on wild habitats and individual animal species. Artist calls his art "Big Trash Animals", that are usually made from car parts, rubber, recycle bins found in local trash bin or nearby factory.

Bordalo II work not only invites us to rethink how we should consume, but also how to protect our local forests or natural habitats.

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Vhils Another well-known street artist Vhils (his real name is Alexandre Farto) chisel down walls to create unique murals.

Every work of his tells a story about unknown person looking straight into the distance.

Through my recent travels I‘ve seen his works in Lisbon, Porto, Aveiro and even in Kyiv (Ukraine).

Mural made by Vhils in Porto city, Portugal

That uncertainty that lies beneath last layer of paint is what motivates Vhils to enjoy creative process. Every wall is like an archaeological digging site, which allows artist to explore forefather’s legacy and their way of life.

Vhils work expose the past by revealing old naked walls shaped like a random stranger.

Mural created by Vhils in Aveiro city, Portugal

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„Burning stones“ by Vytenis Jakas in Kaunas, Lithuania

Vytenis Jakas Portugal street art surprised me with originality, however Lithuanian contemporary artist are often in my mind too. Vytenis Jakas widely known in Lithuania as founder of „Yard Gallery“ and author of Kaunas Pink Elephant. „Burning stones“ is one of the most exceptional artworks that can be found in Vilijampole, Kaunas district.

In 2018 V. Jakas decorated old building

near

the

entrance

of

Jewish ghetto in Vilijampole. Artist created unique mosaic from broken mirror shards. It is always a treat to come here on sunny days to see sunlight

reflections

from

the

distance. According to the author, shards Jewish

represent ghetto

broken

life

inhabitants

of and

shining mirror pieces gives hope and sense of community.

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Walls that Remember showing the invisible side of Vilnius Walls that Remember is an urban art project dedicated to the history of Lithuania’s Jewish community. Among other pieces of the genre, the series of stencil art pieces is exceptional with their form, style and location. Until now, I haven’t seen murals on the walls of Vilnius’ Old Town, and now there are five urban art pieces in Stiklių, Mėsinių and other streets of the historical Jewish Quarter.

With the core members of the Walls that Remember team Lina Šlipavičiūtė and Lauryna Kiškytė, we had a talk about the idea behind the project, its meaning and reactions from the local audience.

One of the five artworks in historical Jewish Quarter of Vilnius made by Wall that remember team.

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On the left – Lauryna Kiškytė, On the right – Lina Šlipavičiūtė

Why is the historical Jewish Quarter the spot you chose for the artworks?

Lina: Vilnius has plenty of stories we’d like to tell. I am fascinated by cultural diversity, the ability of people with different religions and ethnicities to coexist and create a common space for all of them, in spite of all their differences. This is one of the reasons why I was targeting this exact location – life here used to be vivid and pulsated with immense diversity and power. Prior to the Second World War, the Jewish community in Vilnius was vast and powerful: how they lived, what they created – all of it left imprints not only on the walls of the Old Town, but also – in our conscience, though lots of us don’t quite realize how powerful that influence was and still is.

Since this flourishing culture was almost swept from the face of earth in a cruel and brutal manner, the subject itself is not easy for both the artist and the society. Some people don’t want to remember or discuss the dark pages of history, some try to forget. Walls that Remember is our way of tackling this issue. I think a clear and honest perception of our history is the only way to advance and prevent horrible mistakes from repeating.

Lauryna: We have a tendency to favor the most beautiful moments of history. The ones we like most – heroism, greatness. And when it comes to controversies, uneasy questions and things we don’t like about our history – they tend to be ignored. Walls that Remember is an appeal to remember and face our history, both its beauty and its grotesque.

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Lina: The project began as an artistic idea to express what I felt while having walks in Vilnius and observing all the marks left by the generations that lived here before. It was an attempt to show this invisible side of the city, the time when these streets were pulsating with Jewish life and culture, with its own routine, its own colors and even smells.

Lauryna: This is why we chose the artwork to be based on old pictures of simple people. Bypassers caught on camera a century ago. Usually, if we make a monument to someone – it’s someone with great achievements. If we make a portrait – it’s usually some renowned person. And we chose to bring back memories of everyday folks – regular people who were also doing something good for society, but their names aren’t in history books.

You chose spraypaint – a contemporary form – to convey a historical message. Why did you choose this technique? Street art tends to raise controversies.

Lina: We wanted to discuss our past with a modern technique. We’re used to seeing history in museums or books, and that kind of discussing sensitive topics might already be outdated and unattractive to the generation that’s about to shape our future. We wanted to distance ourselves from these cliches and discuss our history in a contemporary manner. We wanted our murals to be like real people you can meet by accident. Someone that simply catches your attention.

Graffiti and street art are subject to controversy and some people tend to have a negative opinion about it. In fact, this is the reason for some of our problems in the initial stage of the project. Owners of buildings we wanted to use for the artwork sometimes dismissed the idea as soon as they heard what technique we want to use.

I’m really happy to say we found a lot of open minded people to support the idea. And the fact that this kind of art tends to raise controversies was just another challenge for me as an artist.

Lauryna: In fact, we get a lot of feedback from lots people that represent various backgrounds and different generations. I remember an elderly couple that stopped to observe our work. “How beautiful!” they said. It was pure and honest joy, with no dissatisfaction over the fact that we’re spray painting on walls of the Old Town.

Getting that kind of feedback from different generations feels great!

Lina: I noticed that people tend to focus on the art piece itself rather than the technique. Drawings on walls aren’t vandalism, if people understand the message you are trying to tell.

Thank you!

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The biggest open air gallery in Poland Can you imagine living in an apartment building that has a mural on it? What if your district was a tourist attraction place? It is not my imagination! Some people are really living in most artistic settlement – it is called Zaspa. You can find it in Poland, city of Gdansk. It is the biggest street art gallery in Poland that has around 60 large murals.

So naturally I came to visit it… twice.

Now it’s time to put out all my discoveries in one place. How Zaspa district became open street art mural extravaganza from simple city airport. I am talking with guide Krzysztof, who is giving street art tours in this colourful district of Gdansk.

Apartment building in Zaspa, Gdansk, Poland

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When you started giving tours in Zaspa?

The tours are coordinated by IKM (Institut of Urban Culture) from 2010. IKM started preparing the lectures for people who would like to be local guides. We had exams and from year 2010 twelve people started to be guides in Zaspa. The art tours starts from June and lasts all summer till half of September.Each year from 2009 to 2016 festival of Monumental Art is organised. Around 4-5 murals each year were painted by artists from all over the world (Argentina, Germany, Italy, Israel, Spain etc.) Interesting fact – one mural costs around 25.000 Polish Zloty and it is 4.500 Euro.

What inspired people to start making street art here?

The

second

organisation

who

coordinates “Monumental Art Festival” is Gdansk School of Mural (GSM). It is a platform

that

was

created

for

discussion, to improve the workshops.

Its aim to restore the original function of mural – socio-political art, reacting to current events and to develop a single style. Workshops are lead by artists and lecturers Rafał Roskowiński and Jacek Zdybel. Their murals have social and artisic context, they give attention to the current social problems in Poland and other countries. In fact, Rafał Roskowinski created the first mural in Zaspa – he painted faces of Lech Walesa and John Paul II near the Rzeczpospolita

street.

This

mural

inspired the idea of making Zaspa colourful

and

artistic

place

–

the

biggest open air street art gallery in Poland. In 1997 the Lithuanian artist Jonas Zagorskas created one mural here too.

Mural made by Polish street art artist M-City in Zaspa, city of Gdansk.

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When the first murals were painted in Zaspa?

The first 10 pieces of art were painted in 1997 during the festival organised to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of Gdansk.

How much time did artist have to make one mural?

To paint one mural takes around 10 or 12 days, (during the time of “Monumental Art Festival” ). Also it depends from self-discipline of an artist and quality of the painting. Mostly artists start painting from highest floor (in Zaspa it is 10th floor) and step by step go down.

Funny story, brasilian muralist Mazu Prozak was a little more artist than a worker so he prefered talking with nice girls and taking sunbath. One day he realised that he won’t be able to finish his work! So, he started asking people who lived here to help him finish the mural. Luckily, a lot of people decided to do it. So in result – 10 % of mural is painted by Zaspa inhabitants and 90 % by Prozak.

It is interesting that Zaspa had an airport until 1974. How this place changed from that time till these days?

In 1972 first large buildings were constructed, the place began to be dangerous to fly cruise. Today, still exist old runaway, partly replaced by district houses.

To remember the history of this place, streets were named by the theme of airport and aviation. For example, Pilots street, Plane street, Hynek, Żwirko, Wigura, Skarżynski (they were polish legendary hero pilots), the Squad 303 street (legendary squad from battle of England in 1940). Today in the place of old plane`s hangar is a mall.

Thank you!

Mazu Prozak mural was finished with the help of local people.

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Street art cities – useful tool for travelers

Street Art Cities’s community is dedicated to create the perfect platform to discover all murals worldwide. This global community consist of street art lovers, photographers, urban explorers, galleries, festivals and casual travelers visiting cities and exploring them through street art.

In summer 2017 the universal Street Art Cities app was made. Today, in 2019 this is one of the biggest street art communities connecting locals from over 521 cities in the world and it is growing every day.

How it works? Every city has its own map where street art hunters can put all the information about murals that they found (address, artist, information about mural).

It is useful for tourists – using GPS they can find all the murals in the city, for artists – showcase their artworks and build a bigger fan base, for street art lovers – be part of a network of hunters all over the world and show the love for their city.

NO. 1 | DECEMBER 2019

Explore cities through street art!

Useful link: https://streetartcities.com/ Find your city's street art map: city name + street art cities.