Virtual Exhibit-Street Art
November 9, 2009
Street art became very popular in the 60′s and has grown from there. When most of us think street art we think graffiti and illegal activity but it is much broader than that. Street art allows artist to create work that wouldn’t likely get into a gallery and it reaches a much larger audience. Two artists that made street art famous for something other than graffiti, Julian Beever and Kurt Wenner. Both of these artists, legally, created master pieces art sidewalks all over. Using chalk they created 3 dimensional murals full of great fantasy, imagination and even renaissance work.
Julian Beever is Belgium based but has worked all over the world as a freelance artist. Beever made his start in the mid 1990′s using a technique called Anamorphosis, which makes the drawing look 3D from a certain angle. Beever also paints wall murals with acrylic paint, oil paintings, collages and wood panelled drawings. A few of Julian Beevers drawings:
Some of Beevers drawings were portraits. This one is of Queen Elizabeth 1. This was done on Oxford Street, London in 1999.
This one is more of a scene, the little girl is real but the rest is drawn around her. This appeared in the Daily Mail on December 22, 2008.
This last photo Beever drew a butterfly with a shadow so it lookes like in air. This was done in Mexico City, aired on Episode 9 on the television series Concrete Canvas.
Kurt Wenner is another street artists who uses the medium chalk and sidewalks. American born Wenner first started drawing at 16 and by 17 had a career creating artwork. Wenner worked for NASA painting future space drawings and when he left he moved to Italy to study art further. Unlike Beever, Wenner’s drawings are a bit more classic, old world drawings, angels and demons. Along with the street art, Wenner also does murals, oil paintings and sculptures. A few pieces of his work:
This is The Last King of Singapore in the 14th Century. Located at the National museum of Singapore.
This Drawing was inspired by the game, Gears of War. Done in 2006 this shows monsters from the game coming from a hole in the ground.
This painting, Reflections, the human figures are essential to the piece for they are looking down at themselves.
All of these chalk drawings are done on pavement and are a form of Street Art. So many different subjects and all 3D. I like this form of art because you can watch the artists in action while they are creating. It is amazing how they can take a simple sidewalk and make it come to life!
Ref:
http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_art
http://hubpages.com/hub/AwesomeKurtWenner
November 11, 2009 at 7:05 pm
These are some really amazing pieces! I love your theme of street art and I think you chose great artists as representatives of the style. I appreciate the style explanation and brief history at the beginning and the information you presented on the artists was interesting. You did a great job presenting the factual information and sticking to the time constraint of the assignment as well.
I think I’m personally fonder of Julian Beever. His 3-dimensional art work is absolutely amazing. I was completely floored the first time I saw the picture of the butterfly and the boy. This must be a particularly difficult style because of the distortion necessary to create the 3D effect. I have a great amount of respect for this artist. Thank you for presenting his work in your blog!
The work Reflections by Kurt Wenner is another favorite of mine of the pieces you presented. It really does look like water reflecting the individuals standing over the piece!!! Amazing!
At the end of your blog you stated that you enjoy street art in particular because you can watch the artist working. Have you seen many demonstrations? What artists have you personally seen work? I think that’s a great point!
November 12, 2009 at 4:42 am
I would like 2 hire you
November 12, 2009 at 9:43 pm
I love you choice in theme, street art continues to impress me. It is so amazing how an artist can create those 3-D art pieces. To the normal non-artist person, it seems impossible to even start a piece of art like the ones above. Great Job!!
November 13, 2009 at 10:55 pm
I think this a perfect virtual art exhibit. You had all the facts required for the assignment. I never really saw much of this street art style before other than some work emails I have received throughout the years. I think it is amazing how it looks so real. I especially like the little girl and the snowman. It looks so real with her standing on the picture. Great blog. It has inspired me to look up more street art. Thank you.
November 18, 2009 at 7:37 pm
I like your examples of street art, and the historical information was interesting. The snowman with the little girl is my favorite, much more than the scary beasts. When you say that the artists “legally” created works on the sidewalks, does that mean that they were issued permits? How long does this type of work last; just until the next rain? I was happy to see that one of the works actually resides in a museum. Thank you.
November 23, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Of course I would say I agree with your theme and choice because we picked the same one. You did an excellent job in researching and finding out where the paintings are now located. Great Job!
November 27, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Both Beever and Winner are very exciting to me. It is interesting that artist now take to the street apposed to vying for a spot in an unscaled exhibit or museum, I love that art is for the people in this none commercial way. Unlike the past, in which artist had patrons from the wealthy or even vast clientele to get them started, Artist just produce in the middle of the street or on buildings and basically reinventing again the scope of what it means to be an artist. I love the 3-d fantasy world that Wenner created. It’s like you could just jump in and fight dragons. Beever’s works although less elaborate is just as inspiring. Upon first looking at the girl in the snow I thought she was real. Just amazing. I wish I could be there while the artist creates these works. Overall your analysis is great. I got a very good history and an appreciation I didn’t have before.