by Ariadna Zierold
This is Pt. 2 of the coverage for No Limit Street Art in Borås, Sweden. No Limit is an outdoor art event inviting artists from around the world to participate in turning public spaces into an outdoor exhibition. The event is about all kinds of street art, from large scale murals to street art sculptures and installations.
7. INTI
Muralist devoted to street art, specifically to graffiti, since age 15. In parallel he studied at the Fine Arts School of Viña del Mar. Despite criticism from detractors of artistic expression in public spaces, his works won a space on the streets and buildings of Valparaiso, first, and then in cities all over the world. Based in Paris right now, he has established himself as a benchmark of street art, muralism and international graffiti, being constantly invited to festivals and exhibits related to avant-garde art in South America, Europe and the United States.
Inti´s work is mainly inspired by pre-Columbian and Andean cultures, rescuing and redefining iconography and symbols that are both ancient and contemporary. Currently, we can find his mega murals in countries as diverse as Lebanon, Norway, Bolivia, Poland, Puerto Rico, France, Canada and others. The list keeps on growing with his frequent travels.
After several days of work on his cherry picker, the Chilean street artist created this beautiful new piece which is entitled “Hand Labor”. Breaking away from his signature imagery, “Hand Labor” brings a new aesthetic to INTI’s style.
8. Laurence Vallières
Born in Québec city in 1986 this young artist was discovered by the creation of large-scale sculptures in cardboard. She studied at Concordia University in visual arts before doing an exchange program in Los Angeles to further her knowledge in ceramics. It’s only after graduation and doing an artist residency in Russia that she appropriated the street art influence in her work. By using cardboard, material that she finds in abundance in the street she can create large work on the spot in every part of the world she goes. It’s in 2012 that her carrier started after she organized a show called Transmute for the Montreal’s winter Festival. This first step in the big league lead her to her first solo show at galerie d’art Yves Laroche in Montreal and to participate to multiple festivals in the city. In the past year, Vallières has spent much time outside of Canada, showing notably in The United States, France and Germany.
9. Curiot
Curiot is a visual artist currently working in Mexico City. Curiot creates vibrant mythical beasts blending human and animal forms, which allude to Mexican handcrafts and folk art. The works are highly detailed, rich in color, symbolist and mystic. Inspired from Pre-Hispanic cultures, nature and urban contemporaneity, the artist explores the relationship between man and nature.
He earned his B.F.A from the Universidad Michoacana de S.N. Hidalgo in 2008. His paintings have been exhibited in diverse solo and group venues including: Cirlcle Culture Gallery, Fecal Face, Thinkspace Gallery, Fifty24MX, BMW Museum, CCBorder, Scope Art Fair, Stroke, among others.
10. Robert Proch
A painter, muralist and animator born in 1986 Bydgoszcz, Poland. Proch was educated at the Akademy of Fine Arts (animation department) in Poznan where he also lives and works nowadays. He has an unique picturesque language which represents numerous stylistic expressions. His style is inspired by state-of-the-art animation, impressionism and modernist graffiti. He is not using photography and many times even avoids making a precise sketch for the painting. This makes painting process so interesting for him.
11. David Zinn
David Zinn is a self-taught artist living in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His small-scale fanciful creatures, often including a stalk-eyed green monster and a flying pig, are generally improvised on the street using chalk, charcoal and found objects. These etherial drawings generally wash away in the rain, but photographs of them have endured on Street Art Utopia, The Guardian, Central China TV, the Instagram Blog, Colossal, La Republica, Upworthy and many other places.
For years now, the Street-Art culture has been making its way through Sweden with positive embrace growing from both the public and politicians. While the “Zero tolerance” law remains in most cities, the discussion of the murals and the positive change it provides has been a hot discussion for many. From television, to radio, to newspapers and blogs, everyone in Sweden is now talking about it.
Borås, with its history in opening its doors to art (from the International Sculpture Biennal of Borås to its extensive exhibitions at the Borås Museum of Modern Art) the city has now opened its walls to this mural culture. This art movement, which began with artists painting murals illegally, is now being embraced by the public and is letting artists turn local cities such as Borås into beautiful public spaces that are blanketed by artwork of artists worldwide.
All images via No Limit and Henrik Haven.