‘Out in the Open’ mural project launched by KIRK Gallery in 2014, just kicked off its 5 fifth edition with stellar artist line-up including: Vhils (PT), Seth (FR), TelmoMiel (NL), Oliver Vernon (USA), Fintan Magee (AU), Joram Roukes (NL), Nils Westergard (USA). These artists will adorn the streets of Aalborg (Denmark) over the coming weeks.
The aim of the project is to break away from a museum setting and have street art of the highest caliber more accessible to the public, hence the name “Out in the Open.”
About The Artists
Portuguese artist Alexandre Farto (b. 1987) has been interacting visually with the urban environment under the name of Vhils since his days as a prolific graffiti writer in the early- to mid-2000s. His groundbreaking carving technique, based on removing the surface layers of walls and other materials with non-conventional tools, has been hailed as one of the most compelling approaches to art created in the urban art scene.
Julien Malland aka Seth began painting murals in the 20th arrondissement of Paris. He made a name for himself globally by creating colorful children characters incorporating local subjects with messages that are often very playful and political at the same time. He often places the children in environments with books as a reference to their imagination and creativity. After intensively traveling all over the world, Seth is very much aware of the way globalization and modernization are influencing local traditions.
Telmo Miel, are a Dutch duo hailing from Rotterdam. In the [street] art world, their work is arguably some of the best that you’ll find out. Their style seamlessly blends layers with abstraction and surrealism to create incredible, dreamlike scenarios that reference both human and animal worlds. They work separately on ideas for murals and come together with the sketches to see if combinations can be made. The result is usually very surrealistic, with attention to detail. They always work on the same piece together and are able to switch places when ever wanted or needed.
Visually, Oliver Vernon’s paintings draw upon an incredibly varied pool of influences, from abstract expressionism, to post pop surrealism and the polished finish of figurative realism. Each of his painting has its own set of rules, or rather the rules are being bent, broken and ultimately formed within each painting. Color, form, energy, architecture, good, evil, flesh and machine are lurking, never as physical entities, but as transient archetypes searching out their final places within the framework of the cosmos.
Fintan Magee is known for his murals throughout Australia and the world. Born in Lismore, New South Wales, he grew up in Brisbane, gaining a reputation as a graffiti writer before obtaining a fine arts degree and relocating to Sydney.
His experience in the revolutionary realm of illegal art is evidenced through his commitment to themes like “waste, consumption, loss, transition, but also sentimentality and nostalgia related to childhood memories.” His formal training has helped him to express these ideas in his distinctly dreamy, yet realistic style.
Joram Roukes is a Netherlands based artist, living and working in the city of Groningen. His murals and large scale oil paintings are reflections of everyday life situations, observed, filtered and reassembled in a collage like way. The works pose a fragmented yet cohesive view on today’s society and human behavior. The distinct quality that transforms Joram’s work from ‘glance-worthy’ to ‘fascinating’ is perhaps best described by the indefinable tension present in every detail of his work.
Nils Westergard is a Belgian-American street artist and film maker based out of Richmond, Virginia. Starting with stencils and graffiti as a teenager in the Washington DC suburbs he developed a unique style which has been translated to walls across the US, Europe, and Australia. His intricately cut stencils. hip-hop music videos, and large murals investigate topics of intimacy, ego, power, and fragility. Splitting his time between Richmond, Gent, and Amsterdam the 26-year old artist is establishing himself as a rising figure in the urban art world.
About KIRK Gallery
KIRK Gallery is a Danish gallery located in Aalborg with international reach and a collaborative approach organizing projects and shows for museums and other gallery partners besides participating at art fairs in Denmark and abroad. The gallery has been in operating since 2008 and is run by Lene Kirk.
The Gallery features Danish and international contemporary art, showcasing the latest currents and developments within the new contemporary art scene, presenting powerful and visionary art by artists in a line-up that bridges the gap between fine art and the new contemporary movement.
