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      Asalto Festival 2021 in Zaragoza, Spain

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      Zaragoza, 12nd December 2021. Asis Percales, Berni Puig, Dani Hache, Ecosaurio, Letsornot, Maite Rosende, Mina Hamada, Nelio, Olga de Dios and Twee Muizen are the artists who participated in the 16th edition of the Asalto Festival and who have left a series of works that, far of the large format, they have been integrated into the daily tours of the neighbors.These artists have treated with great sensitivity the history of the neighborhood of the Arrabal de Zaragoza and the relationship with its people, as well as the structure and dimensions of the environment and its historical structure.In addition, in this edition the festival has recovered part of its rhythm and reason to be with the participation of citizens, educational centers and associations in workshops or in the creation of some of the works.With this edition, it is sixteen years of Asalto, a pioneering festival that has toured the city with the participation of more than 300 artists.LETSORNOT’s work is a vindication of fountains as a meeting and observation point, where everything happens. The work is conceived to be observed from the circular perimeter of the Fountain, where all the pieces fit together.“If you want to eat cookies, sow wheat” is the ASIS PERCALES mural made with the collaboration of GECO GEC0. This is a sincere tribute to the industrial past of the neighborhoods of Arrabal and Jesús in Zaragoza, to the working-class origin of these neighborhoods on the riverbank. This is a work to get lost in all the details, winks and intersections between the history of the city and the iconography of Asis itself.DANIHACHE pays tribute to jazz, Bob Destiny, the ‘Jazz al Margen’ festival and the musicians and groups related to the movement and origins of Jazz music in the neighborhood, such as the Harlem Blues Brass Band.MINA HAMADA’s work is a poetic intervention in a wall of smaller dimensions than usual. With abstract and organic shapes and a bright color palette it has lit up a narrow street in the neighborhood.The illustrator MAITE ROSENDE, with her flat shapes, has created a story of persecution and friendship through the most significant episodes and places in the neighborhood.The intervention of OLGA DE DIOS in the playground of a school, with its characters and fluorescent colors, has created paths and new places to play for the little ones.The Puerto Rican EKOSAURIO, author of the tallest mural in this edition, is creating a large garden with magnolias, olives and plants from his land and the surroundings of the Huerva River in a building. The artist has also worked with the little ones in the neighborhood, who are very involved in environmental projects.NELIO is the French artist who has painted the facade of the neighborhood health center. With colors full of subtle nuances that change with the passing of the day, it has given new life to a facade of straight and angular lines. In addition, he has intervened in surrounding streets with small mural works in which he has expressed his new artistic concerns.TWEE MUIZEN evoke the mountain as a refuge. The artists Cris and Denís have painted a series of very personal small murals in which they tell us about the refuge they want to be in and that it is in the mountains or in themselves, a source of inspiration for their work.To these, there are 15 artists who are part of the Asalto 15/15 project, which has put 15 residents of the neighborhood in contact with 15 artists from all over Spain to create unique works inspired by their stories. Artists: Begoña Simón, Cranco Estudio, Daniel Martín, Diego Nicolás, Elena González, Emilio López, Héctor Vidal, Javier Garanto, Jorge González – Akosart, Laura Gracia, Marta Boza, Pilar Martín, Sara Escribano, Stella Rubio, Víctor Pastor.The Asalto Festival has the support of the Zaragoza City Council and the collaboration of Tranvías de Zaragoza, Ambar, Montana Colors, Japan Foundation and the Caja Inmaculada Foundation. Check out below for more photos from Asalto Festival. More

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      “Web 2.0” by Ludo in Paris, France

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      Street artist Ludo is back with a new mural in the streets of Paris, France. The mural entitled “Web 2.0” features a variation of his famous BTC Flower but instead of the bitcoin symbol, it displays an infinity sign with a tombstone below in which the words “R.I.P. Web 2.0” is written.Ludovic Vernhet, known by the name Ludo and sometimes even referred to as Nature’s Revenge, is an artist born and raised in Paris.His is all about connection between nature, animals and new technologies. It’s all about the world surrounding us. Mixing robotic and natural elements, Ludo questions us about our reality. Without condemning he is putting in highlight topics such as global warming, capitalism, globalization, ecology and the place of the human being among nature. More

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      “The Way to a Dream” by Mutus in Pinsk, Belarus

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      An experienced Belarussian muralist Mutus created a huge mural painting “The Way to a Dream” in his native town Pinsk (Belarus). The impressive mural painting on a facade of a 10-storied building became a part of a large-scale project “Traditions for the future”.The painting is dedicated to the ancient trade route from the Baltic to the Black Sea. And modern Belarusians, who confidently follow their dreams, relying on a rich historical and cultural background.Mutus’ monumental painting is a part of an ambitious art-project named “Traditions for the Future”. The project “Traditions for the Future” is a series of motivating murals in Belarusian cities and towns. Every picture reflects the values of entrepreneurship and personal initiative through the prism of Belarusian legends and history. The project is being implemented by Belarusbank and the street-art team “Urban Myths”.It’s emblematic that Pinsk has become the first town taking part in the project. This small town has been always renowned for its ambitious and adventurous residents. A lot of people who have changed the world were born here.International trade has always been actively developing in the town on the large navigable river Pripyat. And in IX-XII there passed the legendary international trade route “From the Varangians to the Greeks”, which had a great influence on the development of the entire region. It was a very risky undertaking for ancient times to sail along rivers from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Travelers had to have a hefty dose of courage and adventurism. The mural “The Way to a Dream” depicts a decisive figure on a drakkar (a boat of the Scandinavian type). This is a modern young man who is confidently making his way into the unknown for his dreams. In his very image there is something “dreamlike”: he connects day and night, past and present; his sail is heaven. The character throws coins “for good luck” into the water and they turn into stars in the night sky in the reflection of the sail.The huge mural on the wall of a 10-storied house was created in just 10 days. The authors are the Belarusian artist Mutus and his assistant Siarhei Rysakou. Mutus is already a fairly experienced muralist, he is known for his romantic street paintings, where realistic images and author’s metaphors are intertwined.Check out below for more photos of the mural project. More

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      “Dreamers” by Gleb Kashtanov in Mazyr, Belarus

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      An extremely vivid mural painting “Dreamers” was created by a Belarusian muralist Gleb Kashtanov in Mazyr, Belarus. The mural on a facade of a 9-storied building in a new actively developing district of town became the continuation of the project “Traditions for the Future” supervised by Belarusbank and the street-art team “Urban Myths”.The plot of the mural is based on the author’s rethinking of an ancient Mazyr legend about the origin of the world and locals. The characters of the mural painting are modern children, who are about to start building their own future. Their real world is intertwined with ancient legends and fairytales.The monumental painting “Dreamers” is a part of an ambitious art-project named “Traditions for the Future”. The project “Traditions for the Future” is a series of motivating murals in Belarusian cities and towns. Every picture reflects the values of entrepreneurship and personal initiative through the prism of Belarusian legends and history. The project is being implemented by Belarusbank and the street-art team “Urban Myths”.Mazyr became the second town of the project. This town has a unique Belarus hilly terrain with deep ravines and its history is full of mysteries. Nowadays Mazyr is a dynamically developing industrial town, where there are a lot of children and young people.The author of the mural painting tried to convey images of unique nature, legendary ancient history of the town and confidence in the future. Before starting work the organizers consulted a local historian. One of the legends, told by the historian, inspired the author to create the mural.Here’s the legend:“A long time ago, when the Sun was a God and walked from West to East, the first land began to rise from the waters of the sea. That time, migratory birds were resting on the hills, and they brought the seeds of rare plants to Mazyr. These plants are now found in local ravines.One day, the Sun was going across the sky and heard a fantastic song. It was sung by Milavica (Belarusians call Venus, a goddess of love and beauty, Milavica,). This charming girl sailed on a boat in the sea between the hills. The Sun fell in love with Milavica and followed the sounds of the song. The first “Paliashuki” (residents of Paliessie) were born from the love of the Sun and Milavica. Descendants of those people now live in Paliessie, and the Sun moves from East to West.”The mural “Dreamers” became the biggest for Gleb Kashtanov in his career. Gleb is an ambitious and promising muralist from Vitebsk (Belarus). He has a professional education in the art sphere and develops his personal style in street art. More

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      “El Vencedor” by Juan Salgado in Puerto Rico

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      The experienced artist Juan Salgado presents a mural to help transform a community in his native Puerto Rico.The history that surrounds the community of Santurce and El Hipódromo ward in Puerto Rico, has served as inspiration for the well-known artist, Juan Salgado, to create his most recent work called “El Vencedor”, and in this way contribute to the transformation of the zone in that community.This is part of an initiative of Doctor’s Center Foundation and produced by Zumare Studios that will impact the Santurce communities.  The mural presents an adaptation of the history that the Santurce community in San Juan holds, Since its foundation, Santurce served as the home of those ancient slaves who achieved their freedom. Under the title “El Vencedor”, Salgado seeks to highlight all those who managed to overcome the chains of slavery, leaving behind the inequality and prejudices of the time.“I am extremely happy with this project. As an artist I seek to impact people in different ways, and I believe with this mural, we are remembering a valuable history of the Santurce and Puerto Rico area. We can never forget our roots and what has made us all diverse”, commented the world-renowned tattoo artist.The community of Santurce has undergone great transformations, but Salgado wanted to highlight that moment in history where freedom was the center of this iconic San Juan community. “Slavery in Puerto Rico was abolished only 148 years ago. This work is dedicated to all those victorious people who traced the path to freedom and managed to escape from the imposed race”, Salgado mentioned.Juan Salgado has over 400 thousand followers on his social media accounts, and has captured his work on the skin of great artists and renowned personalities. He has left his mark and creations in various areas of Puerto Rico, and in countries such as Italy, Australia and at Wynwood in Miami, Florida. Also, he has participated in several international competitions recreating a mixture between fantasy and reality, making the viewer contribute his point of view to his works.Check out below for more images of “El Vencedor”. More

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      Artist Retrospective: The London Police

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      The London Police is an art collaboration between Chaz Barrisson and Bob Gibson that started in 1998 when the artists visited Amsterdam to rejuvenate the visually disappointing streets of the drug capital of the world. The artists display an art in illustrative and innovative expression.They were part of a small group of artists at the end of the last century that helped pioneer a new street art movement. After a few years of mixing traveling and making art in the street, TLP began to receive worldwide recognition for their contribution to the graffiti/street art movement. They were included in many of the books documenting the scene and invited for shows and live drawing performances all over the globe. Their work has adorned buildings and galleries in more than 35 countries, like England, Holand, Singapore, Italy, Norway, Slovakia, USA, among others.Mural in Odintsovo, Russia for Urban Morphogenesis, 2019The duo combine styles on every piece they produce, often mixing in a tall portion of antics and mock-seriousness along the way. In these playful fantasy cityscapes ‘the Lads (the circular characters)’ are constructed and move around freely, in turn helping to build further elements of the city. The London Police creates a place full of interaction between their circle and line paintings.Scroll down below to view more of The London Police’s best works through out the years.“Fish Eat Fish” in Cozumel, Mexico, 2015In 2015, The London Police collaborated with Tristan Eaton for the excellent SeaWalls: Murals For Oceans. The team spent about five days to create this impressive piece which is featuring each artist’s distinctive style and technique. A monochromatic layering for Tristan Eaton combined with a bunch of signature characters from The London Police.“900 Dogs by a Chocolate Factory” in Germany, 2018The collective from Amsterdam created a work in Germany which in the background we see a detailed city panorama. This element is kept in a turquoise-blue combination separated by a purple line. In the center of the mural appear the LADS, i.e. three smiling dogs in black and white, a signature element from the artists’ works.Mural in Houston, Texas for Hue Mural Festival, 2015Mural in Berlin, Germany for Urban Nation ONE WALLIndoor Mural for Goodbye Monopol 2 Festival in Luxembourg, 2013Mural in Covington, USA, 2013Mural in Covington, USA, 2013For more updates on the artistic duo, check out our #TheLondonPolice page! More

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      Artist Interview: Ji Woo Kim

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      New York-based artist Ji Woo Kim’s work explores themes of identity in the context of race and ethnicity while questioning the concept of home in relation to her own background as a first-generation immigrant. Through her works she examines resulting factors such as cultural identification and social dynamics, as well as their effects on one’s growth from childhood through adulthood.Recently, I had the chance to interview Ji Woo Kim to discuss her latest projects and the concepts & inspirations behind her artworks.Rom Levy: What about art captivated you first, and what led you to become an artist?Ji Woo Kim: I think art was just naturally part of my childhood, as I was exposed to the joys of making art at such a young age. I have very vivid memories of spending hours with my uncle, who is an architect, sitting on the floor of my room and drawing together. We would often create narratives for the figures or scenes that we were drawing, using the drawings as a tool for storytelling. I don’t know if I ever woke up one day and decided to make a conscious decision on becoming an artist. It seems like it was more of a natural outcome in the normal course of things.When did you start practicing art? Do you make any other form of art other than paintings? I started getting into artmaking seriously in high school, which is when I decided that I wanted to go to art school for my college education. This is when I started taking lessons in drawing and painting, which became the basis of my technical skills that I am now applying in my practice. During my undergraduate studies, I explored different mediums, such as sculpture, printmaking, and drawing, but I’ve always enjoyed painting the most. With the current type of work I’m making, painting is the medium that I best see fit, so I’m focusing on just paintings at the moment.What does painting as a medium deliver that other mediums fail to achieve?I can only speak to what painting does for me and the work that I’m currently working on, as different mediums serve different purposes, but I think painting is a highly expressive medium. The subtleties of the paint are so beautiful to me, such as the way a brushstroke can convey so much through the type of brush you use, the way the bristles of the brush touch upon the surface, the thickness or thinness of the paint, the amount of pressure used when applying the paint, the way pigments of color mix together – it all works together to create a very distinctly different way of painting for everyone. It would be incredibly hard to create a painting that looks exactly the same or was created in the exact same way that someone else did, because there are so many variables. In this way, it’s a very personal way of making art, which is why I think it works well with the type of personal narrative I’m unfolding in my work.What is the concept behind your work? My work speaks to my own experience of growing up and living as a minority in a culture and environment that I am not native to. Having spent my formative years in an awkward stage of assimilation and later realizing that I do not/cannot fully belong to either of my cultures, I’ve become interested in creating work that depicts personal fragments of my life belonging to the 2 different physical and cultural environments I grew up in – Canada and South Korea. Creating this type of work has allowed me to investigate my identity further and also examine what determines a place as “home” for people with multicultural identities.The images make the spectator reminisce about childhood memories. Do you reference images from your youth, or are they found pictures of other’s family photos? The source imagery I work with are photos from my own childhood that my family members took. Recently, I’ve shifted focus onto photos that depict scenes from my mother’s college years in South Korea, as I’m interested in comparing my life to hers and observing the differences in terms of her having lived the majority of her life in an environment that she was native to, while I grew up as a minority.What do you aim to deliver to the viewer? For people with similar experiences and identities, I hope to draw out a feeling of being seen, heard, and understood. For people who have been lucky enough to live most if not all of their lives as part of the majority, I hope my work will be a chance for them to at least think about seeing, hearing, and understanding. Ultimately, I want to facilitate dialogue on the topics of Asian American identity and immigrant life.How do you think people relate to your paintings? I’ve been incredibly touched by the way my work has been received by not only Asian-Americans, but with immigrants in general. I’ve had people reach out to me and tell me that seeing my work has been a sort of healing process for them, or that they are grateful that I’m making this type of work. It makes me happier than what words can describe when I’m met with this type of feedback, as I could have never imagined that so many people with different upbringings could relate and connect to the work on such a deep level. At the same time, it is very saddening to hear that the same amount of people have had experiences where they were marginalized. “Lunchtime Heaven and Hell” is a painting that has drawn out numerous conversations with people over a collective experience of being made fun of for being part of a different culture in a Western society. I think the most rewarding part of making the type of work that I make is that I get to hear all the personal stories people share about their own private experiences of growing up and living as an immigrant.How does the fact that you are a first-generation immigrate in the US affect your work? I’ve mentioned in a previous interview with my friends at The Here and There Collective that being a first-generation immigrant (technically 1.5 generation) is perhaps the largest part of my identity, and that it has absolutely everything to do with everything for me. I would not be making the type of work that I make if it wasn’t for my experience of immigrating to North America at such a young age, spending my formative years and adolescence in a constant state of self-doubt, and being regarded as too Asian by non-Asians, while being labeled as whitewashed by fellow Asians. Even if I wasn’t making work that was directly talking about this issue, I’m sure it would’ve made its way into my work in one way or another, as it’s impossible to separate myself from such an impactful experience.When do you know a painting is done? Is your aim to duplicate your reference photo or deliver something else that the photos fail to address? It’s hard to describe in words when and how I know that the painting is done. I think it’s best put that it’s when you’re at a point in the painting where after observing the work from a few feet away, you get an intuitive feeling that this is the right moment to put the brush down – that if you make one more mark on the canvas, it will cross the line from being complete to overworked. It’s difficult though, and I’ve definitely had instances where I wished that I hadn’t done the last step in the painting, and realized that it would have been just as good (maybe even better) if I had left it as is at an earlier stage.I am interested in the ephemerality of paintings, do you view your own work as precious? If you are unhappy with a work, do you tend to destroy it or would you rather put it in storage for a while and alter them at a later date?I think I view my work as being precious in the sense that I would obviously be upset if something were to happen to it, like being destroyed or getting lost in transit, but I don’t have any issues with it being altered in my hands through my own decisions. So far, I’ve never left a painting finished that I’m unhappy with, so I’ve never destroyed anything. And I’ve never put a painting away for months to come back to it at a later date either. I’m quite a single-minded person – sometimes to a fault, so if something isn’t working in the painting, I have to fix it right then and there. I’ve had instances in the studio where I struggle with a part of the painting and end up lying on the floor and crying, before getting back up, neatly tying my hair back again, and then repeat the process of wiping away and repainting the same area for 6-7 hours in one sitting. Another time, I wrapped up in the studio feeling ambiguous about a specific cloud in a painting, thinking that I would come back to it the next morning and fix it. As soon as I cleaned up and washed my brushes, took off my apron, turned the lights off, and was ready to leave the studio, I realized I wasn’t going to be able to sleep as long as the cloud was bothering me, so I set up my palette again and repainted it.Have you ever painted a mural? If not would you be curious to try this medium? I have not had the opportunity to paint a mural yet. With the nature of my work in terms of its context and what I’m trying to convey, it would be very interesting to try something like a mural, which is in the realm of public art. It would allow for a larger audience and a bigger conversation, but I’m not sure how the work would translate onto a much more expansive surface in terms of the brushstrokes I use in my work. The largest size I’ve worked on to date is a 72×48 inch canvas, so I can imagine that working on a mural would be a big jump in terms of size.What are you currently working on, and what are your future plans I’m currently working towards a solo show planned for next May with a Canadian gallery called Blouin-Division in Montreal. This will be my first show in Canada, which is where I grew up and spent most of my life, so it’ll be a very meaningful show for me. The body of work that I’m creating for that show will focus largely on portraying group scenes, which speak to the community that I never had when growing up as a minority. More

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      “Carnival Is Canceled” by Case Maclaim at Aalborg, Denmark

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      “Carnival Is Canceled” by international renowned artist Case Maclaim was made in collaboration with Kirk Gallery as part of their “Out In The Open” Project last 2020. The mural portrays a woman in a clown costume and a partly completed clowns mask. She thought she was going to the carnival.As Case Maclaim put it, “A carnival is something special because it is an event where all are equal. It is the only time of the year where everybody gets to be the same – rich or poor, CEO or student, man or women, since everybody is dressed out to be something different”Aalborg was the first city Samira and me have traveled to after the first German shutdown. The cities famous and traditional carnival had been canceled and the travel ban was lifted the day prior to our arrival. We pretty much kept traveling while working ever since, for most parts by car. There is no one I’d rather be together 24/7. It’s Samira’s birthday today, so I feel extra grateful for her. To know her, means to love her! My forever most favorite, beautiful face to paintA German urban artist native to Frankfurt, Andres Von Chrzanowski (a.k.a. CASE or CASE Maclaim) is a graffiti painter who relies on his highly developed talent to create pieces that combine brilliant photorealism with a strong note of surrealism. This artist primarily uses spray paint as this street art technique enables him to get the most out of his visuals and achieve the level of perfection his incredibly life-like graffiti possess.One of Andres Von Chrzanowski’s most common pictorial motifs are the overlaying hands that symbolize unity and power. It should also be noted that CASE is a founding member of the renown East- Germany Maclaim Crew, a group that has been the urban expression’s photorealism pioneer for over two decades now. More