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Dubai Walls, a ground-breaking initiative by Meraas, has brought to the Middle East a new dimension of the world’s most exciting art movement. Dubai Walls aims to provide an attractive platform for global admirers of street art and encourage them to visit the region throughout the year. This art form evolved in late 20th century and beginning of 21st century to become one of the most followed artistic expressions in the world. The initiative also attempts to transform public spaces into permanent street art exhibitions that perfectly align with Dubai’s modern landscape and offer an opportunity to visitors and residents to enjoy the beautiful artistic creations.
Kick Off: 16 Artists – One Destination
CITY WALK hosts the inaugural project of Dubai Walls where the creative works of 16 of the world’s top street artists have transformed Dubai’s latest urban living destination into a unique art hub. The same artists have already left their creative imprints in global destinations such as New York, Paris and London.
Street art lovers can now start enjoying Dubai Walls’ offerings at City Walk Dubai.
Artists
AIKO- US
AIKO was born and raised in Tokyo before moving to New York City in the mid-90’s. She is acclaimed in the contemporary art world and well-respected within the international graffiti and street art scene. AIKO has also been involved in a large collection of group shows. AIKO has also been commissioned to create works in collaboration with Louis Vuitton, Coach, The Standard, W Hotel, Hello Kitty, Isetan and Warner Bros. etc.
BEAU STANTON- US
A multi-disciplinary artist, Stanton’s work takes the form of paintings, murals, large scale installations, stained glass, and multimedia animations. Focusing on meticulous technique and craft, Stanton’s work is heavily informed by historic ornamentation, religious iconography, and classical painting. A keen interest in iconic visual symbols and Jungian archetypes often provides the foundation for his images.
BLEK LE RAT- France
The Pioneer of urban art in Europe, Blek le Rat was the first to use stencils for creating public art on the street, using icons instead of writing his name. He was first exposed to graffiti in 1971 in New York, but didn’t start making his own until ten years later, in Paris. Inspired by a stencilled portrait of Mussolini, which he saw during a trip to Italy among WWII ruins, he created a silhouette of a rat running along the streets.
D*FACE- UK
D*Face a.k.a Dean Stockton has been a leading figure in Urban Contemporary Art, inaugurating his career in the streets of London over 15 years ago. He is one of the best known figures to rise from the British scene with a unique and particular fusion of pop culture and graffiti meshed with a rebellious streak and an ingenious imagination. Using the term - aPOPcalyptic - to define his work, a blend of ‘pop art’ spliced with fragility of life, Stockton’s work reflects popular culture, centring on the ideals of the American dream and notion of ‘good’ triumphing over ‘evil’.
Eelus- UK
Wigan born Eelus entered the world of street art a few years after moving to London in 2000. He was almost instantly snatched up by master printmakers Pictures On Walls after street legends Banksy and Eine noticed his work on the grimy walls of East London. His first ever screen print edition in 2006 sold out almost instantly (temporarily knocking raining champion Banksy off the top spot for the fastest selling print award) and pretty soon he was finally in a position where he could leave his day job behind and attempt to live his lifelong dream of turning his art into a full time profession.
Ben Eine- UK
Ben Eine is one of the UK’s most prolific and original street artists. Over time his style evolved to become what is today one of the most instantly recognisable and distinct street signatures; single letters and cryptic statements presented in bold colours all elaborately crafted from stylized fonts. Eine’s striking typography has transformed streets around the world from London to LA, via Mexico City, Miami, Paris, Dublin, Tokyo, Stockholm and his current home in San Francisco.
ETAM CRU- Poland
Polish graffiti artists Sainer and Bezt, collectively known as Etam Cru, paint large scale murals of surreal scenes heavily charged with Eastern European folklore, mysticism, fantasy and witty humour. Etam Cru’s artworks are scattered around Europe on countries such as Norway, Bulgaria, Germany, Austria, Russia, Portugal, Belgium and recently even in the U.S., in Richmond. Etam Cru was one of contributing street artists to the 2009 city beautification project undertaken by the Urban Forms Foundation in the Polish city of Lodz.
ICY AND SOT- Iran
ICY (born 1985) and SOT (born 1991) are refugee stencil artists from Tabriz, Iran, currently residing in Brooklyn, New York. Since 2006, the two brothers have contributed to Iranian and international urban art culture through their striking stencil work that depicts human rights, ecological justice, social and political issues.
MAGDA SAYEG- US
Considered to be the mother of yarn bombing, Magda’s over 10 year body of work includes the widely recognized knitted/crocheted covered bus in Mexico City as well as her first solo exhibit in Rome at La Museo des Esposizione. Her work has evolved to include large scale installations around the world including commissions and collaborations with companies such as Commes Des Garcon, CR Fashionbook, Absolut Vodka, Insight 51, Mini Cooper, Gap, Smart Car and several other notable companies.
NICK WALKER- UK
Nick Walker is one of the world’s best known street artists. His street work can be seen on walls around the globe and he has had sell-out gallery shows in all territories. He emerged from the infamous and ground-breaking Bristol graffiti scene of the early 1980s. As a forerunner of the British graffiti phenomenon, Nick’s work has become a blueprint for hundreds of emerging artists.
ROA- Belgium
ROA was born in Ghent, Belgium, which is where he began his career painting abadoned warehouses and factories and became fixated on the creatures he found living in the wreckage. His distinct potrayal of animals on a massive scale has made him one of the most recognizable street artists.
RON ENGLISH- UK
Ron English coined the term POPaganda to describe his signature mash-up of high and low cultural touchstones, from superhero mythology to totems of art history, to create a hilarious visual language that turns advertising into “subvertizing” and parody into illumination.
RONE- Australia
Finding the friction point between beauty and decay is a thread that runs through much of Rone’s work. As a street artist best known for his haunting, stylised images of women’s faces, he understands better than most that beauty can be fleeting. Seeing his artworks gradually worn away by natural and human elements has taught him to appreciate the unexpected beauty of an image as it begins to blend back into its more prosaic surroundings.
SLINKACHU-UK
Slinkachu has been “abandoning” his miniature people on the streets of cities around the world since 2006. His work embodies elements of street art, sculpture, installation art and photography and has been exhibited in galleries and museums globally. His work is a familiar and much-beloved fixture online too and he is widely credited with re-kindling the popular fascination with miniature art.
THE LONDON POLICE- Holland
The London Police started in 1998 when big English geezers headed to Amsterdam to help rejuvenate the visually disappointing streets of Holland’s capital. They were part of a small group of artists at the end of the last century that helped pioneer a new street art movement
VHILS- Portugal
His ground breaking carving technique – which forms the basis of the Scratching the Surface series and was first presented to the public at the VSP group show in Lisbon in 2007 and at the Cans Festival in London in 2008 –, has been hailed as one of the most compelling approaches to art created in the street in the last decade.
Website:www.dubaiwalls.com
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