The Mural Social Club kicks off its summer long project, “Mural Social Club: Back to School!“, with 2 murals realized by French street artist and activist Julien Malland (aka Seth GlobePainter). Both murals were painted at the Popasna school in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, which is located on the Donbass conflict frontline. The school was affected by the conflict and was forced to close in 2014 and reopened last year.
This project, curated by Oleg Sosnov and Julien Malland, was initiated by the Sky Art Foundation with the support of UNICEF Ukraine.
About The Murals
Entitled “Popasna’s Swing“, this first mural depicts a girl on a swing between the cracks, with blue skies in the horizon. This mural speaks for itself with it’s minimalist nature symbolizing struggle and hope. Using his signature style and characteristics, Seth GlobePainter’s aim is the emphasis on the importance of education for kids in disadvantage areas that were affected by the Russia/Ukraine conflict. Being a product of war torn country myself, I can’t help but noticing the reminiscence of a hole in the wall that was caused by a bomb.
The second mural, entitled “Per Aspera Ad Astra” is located on another wall of the same school in the same vein with Seth’s color palette and style Addressing the importance of education.
This is a familiar territory for the artist as he curated a similar project last year called Back to School! Art+China for disadvantage kids in the Chinese province.
About The Project
The Mural Social Club, supported by the Sky Art Foundation together with UNICEF, started the “Mural Social Club: Back to School!” project with the purpose to increase buildings’ value and meaningfulness, presenting children with a monumental art work, and more importantly to add fantasy and dreams to children’s minds.
Throughout the summer, renown international artists from Israel, Portugal, France, Argentina, Chili, Russia, South Africa, Italy and Ukraine will be painting the facades of schools, nurseries, and walls of the buildings near the educational institutions in many cities in Ukraine including: Kiev, Odessa, Kharkiv, Kovel, Volnovaha, Popasnaya, Chernihiv and Cherkassky.
This Project is curated by Oleg Sosnov and Julien Malland, aka Seth GlobePainter. The start of this project coincided with Children Protection Day.
About The Artist
Born in Paris, in 1972, Julien Malland began painting murals in the 20th arrondissement of Paris under the name of Seth. He made a name for himself among Parisian graffiti artists by creating characters.
As a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs of Paris (ENSAD) he published ““Kapital, one year of graffiti in Paris“ in collaboration with Gauthier Bischoff in 2000, which became the best selling book about French graffiti. Together, they founded “Wasted Talent”, a publishing house specializing in monographs of urban artists.
Since 2003, he has been across the world to broaden his horizon on life and on mural painting. From this experience he has been compelled to draw simple characters, mostly children, somehow connected to the chaotic environment in which they live in. Witnessing the outcome of globalization, its creations are celebrating traditions. Thus they are defining a hybrid culture between modern expression and traditional representation. His approach aims to arouse an artistic dialogue, whether it is a collaboration with local urban artists or a learning process of traditional techniques from local craftsmen. In addition, Seth is the presenter, author and director of “Les nouveaux explorateurs“, a TV serial show produced by Canal+, each show focusing on a country and its local mural artists. His travels during the last two years are narrated in a book he authored, “Extramuros“.
Additional information
Sky Art Foundation was established in Ukraine in Autumn 2014 as a private initiative with the purpose of support and development of a new generation of Ukrainian artists, who work in the sphere of contemporary art, and also for promotion of international cultural exchange and integration of Ukrainian culture in the world art context.
The Foundation actively carries out exhibitions and charity activities, organizes international art projects, cultural events with a participation of Ukrainian painters and provides grants for talented artists.
Mural Social Club is an International Festival of Contemporary Art in the public space. Project’s mission is to popularize contemporary art in Ukraine and all over the world, and support social and cultural initiatives of residents of the different cities.
Seth GlobePainter: web | facebook | instagram
Sky Art Foundation: web | facebook | instagram
