The “carnival” has been cancelled globally in the spring of 2020. As we are all painfully aware, the whole world has been locked down and the Covid 19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on all lives, businesses and events. Within this context, German artist Andreas Von Chrzanowski, aka Case Maclaim, has recently completed a large mural in Aalborg, Denmark as part of KIRK Gallery’s ‘Out in the Open 2020’ series. Painting both murals and on canvas, Case holds one of the most extraordinary techniques known within urban art is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading photorealistic aerosol authors.
‘Carnival is Cancelled’ is a figurative portrait of a melancholic woman in a clown costume, wearing partially completed clown make-up. She’d been gearing up for the carnival. As with so many of this year’s events, the biggest street carnival in Northern Europe (held in Aalborg) was cancelled – in fact – for the first time since its inception in 1983. ‘Aalborg Karneval’ usually attracts around 100,000 participants and plays a huge part in modern Scandinavian culture.
Case was quick to absorb the flavor of local life soon after he had arrived in Aalborg. The conversation quickly turned to the unique spirit of the carnival and the inevitable disappointment for so many due to its abrupt cancellation. The ‘Aalborg Karneval’ then became the artist’s metaphor of the current situation in the world, and his inspiration for this mural. Case said, “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 woman, since everybody is dressed out to be something different.”
As with Case’s life as an international muralist, it has been a very tough year for other artists with so many planned murals being cancelled. ‘Out in the Open 2020’ had to be postponed, but KIRK Gallery anticipates the remaining line up of muralists to arrive later on in the summer, so watch this space!
Case Maclaim: facebook | instagram
KIRK Gallery: website | facebook | instagram
