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    “RECONNECT” Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022

    As we emerge blinking from the uncertainty and radical disconnection of the past two years of lockdown and social distancing, it is disorienting to rediscover those social connections and relationships to the people, places and spaces of our cities that have been stretched to the limit and in many cases broken and lost. No longer objects of risk, fear and constant surveillance, we hope Nuart’s “reconnect” edition can help to dial down the background anxiety that had become part of our daily lives.  To help us do this, we have connected with artists, academics and industry professionals from across the globe to explore and present the very best that this culture has to offer.Mural by Elisa-CapdevilaNUART ARTISTS This year’s festival plays host to 11 inspiring national and international street artists. Festival artist Martin Whatson reconnects with a new piece having lost his earlier work to developers, whilst Scottish stencil artist James Klinge makes his debut and Spanish artist and activist Jofre Oliveras’ murals promise new connections with the city’s spaces. We also have a rare festival appearance from Spanish artist Pejac, whose trompe-l’œil techniques have enchanted audiences around the world. Portuguese artist Nuno Viegas will bring his clean and minimal work that draws on traditional graffiti for inspiration, while Barcelona-based Slim Safont’s striking murals offer intriguing links to our daily lives.Mural by PEJACPopular Copenhagen-based muralist JACOBA returns to Aberdeen with an aim to creatively disrupt our sense of disconnection and indifference, and we are pleased to welcome London-based artist and activist for trans rights Erin Holly, whose studio and street-based practice are making an international impact. Spanish artist Elisa Capdevila’s large scale murals promise evocative slices of life reconnected, while Moroccan artist Mohamed L’Ghacham will recreate resonant scenes from everyday life writ large. Joining us from Norway, artist Miss.Printed will delight and surprise audiences with her delicate miniature paper collages placed in the streets. On Sunday 12th, the artist will also be running a Street Collage workshop open to the public, alongside Nuart Aberdeen’s Chalk Don’t Chalk workshops which encourage children and families to create their own chalk street art pieces.Mural by Nuno ViegasTo launch the festival on Thursday June 9th, internationally renowned photographer and subcultural legend Martha Cooper joins us direct from The Congo for a special screening of Martha: A Picture Story, followed by an audience Q+A at the Belmont Cinema, and on Friday June 10th, join festival artists and guests in a chaotic – but possibly educational – street art ‘Fight Club’ hosted by Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV at Spin, Aberdeen.NUART PLUS The extended Nuart Plus programme includes artist talks, panel debates, film screenings, walking tours and workshops. The theme for this year’s street art conference (10-11 June) at Cowdray Hall follows the festival theme, Reconnect. The two-day program brings artists, researchers, creative practitioners and the public together for the first time since 2019. Highlights include artist talks from festival artists, and panels with local, national and international creative practitioners.Keynote speaker Dr Lucy Finchett-Maddock (UK) unpicks the powerful relationship between art, transgression and power while Dr Stephen Pritchard (UK) will share his thoughts on the recent community turn in street art. Melbourne-based researcher and curator Dr Lachlan MacDowall (AU) will share his experience curating Flash Forward, a city-wide program combining art and music, while Dr Erik Hannerz (SE) will share his ideas on how we could “re-write” the city, and think outside the grid, by adopting some lessons learned from those who see the city’s surfaces as full of creative possibilities. The program also includes panel discussions for creative professionals on strategies for creating and sustaining independent creative spaces and projects.Mural by Slim SafontIssue 6 of Nuart Journal will be exclusively launched at the Nuart Aberdeen’s Street Art Conference, on Saturday 11th of June. Nuart Journal was first published in 2018 to widespread critical acclaim. Professor Jeff Ferrell, from Texas Christian University has called Nuart Journal “the most exciting mix of political, visual, and intellectual energy I’ve seen in a long time!”Working in collaboration with Aberdeen Inspired and Aberdeen City Council, the multi-award winning Nuart Aberdeen will once again transform the streetscape of the Granite City.Mural by Martin WhatsonInstallation by Martha CooperMural by Mohamed L’GhachamMural by Erin HollyMural by James KlingeMural by Jacoba NiepoortInstallation by Miss PrintedMural by Jofre Oliveras More

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    “Invisible Sensations” Solo Show by Sun Woo at Carl Kostyál Gallery, London

    Korean artist Sun Woo will be opening her debut solo show in London at Carl Kostyál, 12a Savile Row on Thursday May 12th (Private view 6-8 pm). The exhibition will run until June 11th 2022.In Invisible Sensations, Sun Woo directs her attention to these unseen constraints and frailties encountered by both our bodies and social bodies, clouded by the reflective surface of technology. Informed by her early and recent medical conditions and the forms of limitations encountered within society, the works in this show present disembodied figures that are obscured, altered, or confined, attesting to their history of struggle or striving to break free. These fragmented parts fill the canvases and corners of the room, responding to their surrounding world and addressing their intimate desires. Cropped-out images of her own bones, hair, and flesh from photographs and scanning devices become visual resources that are digitally reconfigured and merged with images and 3D models found online. Removed from their original context to be reassembled into augmented narratives, these fractured bodies strive to look into their own fragility and endurance, raising questions about the extent to which their unification with technology can liberate or protect them, or transform the atmosphere and territory they inhabit. ​ Sun Woo (b. 1994) lives and works in Seoul, South Korea. She obtained her BA in Visual Art from Columbia University, New York in 2017. Her works have been exhibited in galleries and art spaces including Rundgænger by Schierke Seinecke, Frankfurt (2022); ATM Gallery, New York (2021); Art Sonje Center, Seoul (2021); Galerie Hussenot, Paris (2021); Fragment Gallery, Moscow (2021); WoawGallery, Hong Kong (2021); Cylinder, Seoul (2021); ‘Stockholm Sessions’ Carl Kostyál Hospitalet, Stockholm, (2020), Harlesden High Street, London (2020); Foundwill Art Society, Seoul (2020); P21, Seoul (2020); 2/W Weekend, Seoul (2018); among others. ‘Invisible Sensations’ is her debut show with Carl Kostyál.  ​ More

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    “Beyond Walls” by Saype in Venice, Italy

    Artist and innovator Saype presents his new creation, making Venice part of his Beyond Walls global human chain. The work, which is sailing through the Serenissima on the occasion of the Biennale Art, has been unveiled on April 21.Giant biodegradable landart painting by French-Swiss artist Saype from the Beyond Walls project on Friday April 15, 2022 on a floating barge in Venice, Italy. Extending over an area of 8 by 30 meters this fresco was created using biodegradable pigments made out of charcoal, chalk, water and milk proteins. The piece will travel in and around Venice and will be unveiled during the Biennale Arte 2022 59th International Art Exhibition. (Valentin Flauraud for Saype)An exhibition dedicated to Beyond Walls is held at Torre di Porta Nuova dell’Arsenale Nord. To open the exhibition, Karole Vail, Director of the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, and Francesca Lavazza, Board member of the Lavazza Group, will join Saype for a meeting entitled “Art and Sustainability”, a paradigm that perfectly sums up the ephemeral and striking nature of the artist’s work.  “Beyond Walls” is a monumental project launched by Saype based on a premise: the world is polarized, a part of the population has chosen to withdraw into itself. However, Saype underlines it:“I am deeply convinced that it is together that humanity will be able to respond to the different challenges it will have to overcome“.It is from this conviction that the desire was born to share a positive message of mutual aid and common effort throughout the world by symbolically creating the largest human chain ever made in the world.The project started in 2019 from Paris, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, and travels the world from city to city with the ambition to cross the 5 continents and connect people from all over the world.Saype creates monumental frescoes on grass, earth, sand and snow. Inventor of an eco-responsible painting, he is recognized as the pioneer of an artistic movement that jointly honors street art and landart. His innovative approach and technique earned him a 2019 Forbes Magazine nomination as one of the thirty most influential people under thirty in art and culture. New York, Paris, Geneva, Cape Town, Turin, Dubaï, Nairobi, Istanbul, Ouagadougou, Miami, (…) his poetic and ephemeral works travel around the world to impact mentalities in respect of nature.Take a look below for more photos of the project. More

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    “Le Gang Des Potelets” by Benjamin Malick in Paris, France

    Multi-disciplinary artist Benjamin Malick shares his project “Le Gang Des Potelets” in Paris, France. Le Gang Des Potelets is a street art concept, aiming to symbolise the society through the embodiment of Parisian poles.Benjamin gives life to his characters thanks to different technics such as scultpure, mosaic, pochoir, etc. Each piece represents different aspect of the man / woman in our society : desire, passion, history, economic and social level, culture, origins, and more.All these figures form a clan, a gang — le Gang des Potelets (The Gang of Bollards).Benjamin Malick is based between Paris, Libreville and Dubai. Born in France to French-Algerian parents, he grew up in Gabon (Africa). Enhanced by his multi-cultural upbringing, he developed a strong passion and curiosity for travels, adventures and social & environmental causes which today inspire most of his artistic work.Using a multi-disciplinary approach, he revisits cultures & traditions and combines his documentary-style photography with sculptures, street art & collage techniques. With a surreal and dreamlike touch, Benjamin Malick aims to uncover social and cultural differences; at times decrypting known stereotypes and highlighting unknown realities.Take a look below for more photos of this project. More

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    New Mural by Éric Lacan in Hérault, France

    Urban artist Éric Lacan have worked on a new mural in Hérault, France. The mural features his signature black and white portraitures but instead of elegant female subjects this work features a skull with a beautiful floral headpiece.Éric Lacan started to draw attention to himself at the end of the 2000’s with black and white wheatpastes under the nickname Monsieur Qui. Behind his sometimes elegant, sometimes scraggy mysterious female portraits hide a subtle satire of society’s diktat around women. Graphic details like hair entangled in bramble, flowers, and words scratched on the canvas surface, cannot but bewitch passer-byes and imbue his work with a powerful, dark and melancholic romanticism.Check out below for more photo of Monsieur Qui’s  latest work. More

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    “Heavy Meal” Series by Biancoshock in Milan, Italy

    Biancoshock is back with a new series of artwork in Milan. The artist’s installations “Heavy Meal” are painted concrete backpacks that criticize the work of food delivery riders and their daily effort.“In a democratic society, job is a basic tool for civil and economic progress. What progress can there be if job’s world does not produce emancipation, growth and gratification? In example, the work of food-delivery riders is dictated by algorithms that extend the functions of control and distribution of numbers to become inaccessible, authoritarian and categorical.”“CO-BRANDING” in Milan, 2022“The algorithm imposes a path, rhythms, distances to be bridged (those between the rider and the consumer) and other unbridgeable ones (those between the rider and the management of the company that produces the algorithm and the goods to be delivered). The need to survive in this system transforms young people, students and the unemployed into ‘new generation slaves’.”“CO-BRANDING” in Milan, 2022 — Transforming the name of the 3 most famous food-delivery brands into a sentence that describes the principles of globalization. The concrete bags represent the daily effort we must make to endure the heavy consequences of the era of “I want everything and I want it now”“Every day they are forced to bear a constant burden caused by the lack of rights, by underpaid and irregular contracts, by the lack of comparison and relationship as well as the total absence of insurance assistance. And every day that backpack will weigh more and more, as if it were filled with concrete.”“JUST NEET” in Milan, 2022 — “Stop being a slave to laziness, just be a slave.”“JUST NEET” in Milan, 2022“SLAVEROO” in Milan, 2021 — “Old stone, new slavery.”“SLAVEROO” in Milan, 2021 More

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    “Potosi Invasion” by Invader in Bolivia

    Street artist Invader just recently completed his invasion in the city of Potosi, located in Bolivia, South America.  Potosi has an altitude of 4,000 meters (13,400 feet above sea level). The Invasion of Potosi was completed with a total of 53 space invaders.Potosi is the 80th city that the artist have the opportunity to invade. Invader went there to install his 4,000th space invader.“Its location, history and landscapes are breathtaking and it is definitely one of the most intense and amazing missions I have been able to do so far” the artist mentioned in one of his posts.Invader is also preparing a short movie and a new invasion map on the recent project so stay tuned. Scroll down below for more photos of the invasion. More

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    “Weightless” Screenprint and NFT Release by Myneandyours

    Street artist Marwan Shakarchi aka Myneandyours have just released a new screenprint entitled “Weightless”. It is a beautiful 9 colour screen print on 310gsm Somerset Satin hand deckled paper. The artist is also offering the animated NFT completely free if you buy from the yellow edition of the print.Myneandyours is  also offering a real special alternative red colourway of the artwork as a 1/1 animated NFT. It will be auctioned to the highest bidder who will also receive the 1/1 physical screen print.  Check out below for more details of the release.9 Colour Screen Print310gsm Somerset Satin Paper90cm x 70cm, Hand DeckledEmbossed Signed, NumberedCertificate of AuthenticityEdition of 50, $500 USD10 AP’s (Enquire for availability).FREE NFT – together with “Weightless” Yellow Edition.Once payment is made, you will receive an email from me requesting your Metamask wallet address. Your NFT will be minted on the Ethereum blockchain and will be sent to your wallet. You will be responsible for any gas fees. You will be able to mint your Myneandyours NFT anytime within 14 days after the purchase of the screen print. It will not be available past this date.As an owner of a Myneandyours NFT you will be given access to future releases prior to public sale. You will be added to our database and will be contacted prior to future releases.NFT Details 2500px x 3056px NFT edition size is no more than 60.Visit his website for more information on the drop. More