mercoledì 28 maggio 2014

Urban Art Festival @ Amsterdam


From 30 may-1 june the second international Urban Art Festival is taking place in Amsterdam. OT301 will be, just like the first edition in 2010, the main location, with mural paintings throughout the city. Prior to the festival in Amsterdam, pre-events are taking place in the European cities Budapest, Lisbon and Copenhagen. The line-up of artists is immense, with The London Police, Sjocosjon, Zender, Mr Dheo, Royalsteez, Eelco van den Berg and dozens of other artists from Netherlands and Europe. Urban art is an art style related to cities and the urban life; a combination between street art and graffiti. During the first Urban Art Festival edition, the public were already introduced to this form of art. This year 40 (inter)national artists are presenting their art on canvas, installations, sculptures and video art. Leading urban art styles such as street art, neo-graffiti and abstract art are highlighted in the exhibition. In addition, numerous activities are taking place – several mural paintings, podium discussion, art market, family day and there is special attention for lightpainting, an upcoming form of art.


The festival program includes various activities, side events and interventions. The exhibition, with the concept ‘solid:art – solidarity’, is the main focus at OT301. For one day there will be an art market, where young and upcoming artists are presenting their work. The Urban Art Academy is offering a one day workshop with a customized course about theory, technique and practice. All artists will contribute to huge mural paintings. As a visitor you can then watch and admire the live techniques of art in the making. An urban art expert will guide visitors during a city & art tour along iconic, historic and hidden places. In an expert talk and podium discussion visitors are invited to participate in a discussion about a theme that is related to young urban art. At this year’s edition, Urban Art Festival will put a special focus on an upcoming form of art: Light Painting. This discipline shows the possibilities with light and a photo camera.


The line-up includes 40 (inter)national artists. Artist duo The London Police have been active for over 15 year and conquered the art world with their familiar black/white ‘lads’. Zender started graffiti at the age of 13. After some time he starts improving his techniques and gets asked for commercials, illustrations and paint jobs. Mr Dheo is primarily known for his photo realistic and graphic element productions. This gives his work a very personal style in growth and development. SjocoSjon from Amsterdam is an all-round illustrator and most definitely not a stranger in the scene. You have probably already seen his art on Hannekes Tree container and Tuinstraat garage. Eelco van den Berg’s work is mostly drawn by hand. It is distinguished by its strong use of color and lines, combined with highly decorative elements. Complete line-up on www.urbanartfestival.net.


In 2015 the Urban Art Festival will go abroad with its concept. The festival will travel to San Francisco, Berlin and Athens. At this year’s pre-events in Lisbon, Copenhagen and Budapest (10-11 May) a good basis is being created for an extensive network of artists and cultural workers in Europe. Next year Amsterdam will have to make itself ready for a bigger festival. The festival will take place from April-October with excellent curated shows, Urban Art Academy, a series of artist presentations and podium discussions.

Urban Art Festival Amsterdam
30 may until 1 june 2014
Main location: OT301 - Overtoom 301, Amsterdam
Entrance - free: exhibition, mural paintings and daily program | entry fee: workshops, city & art tour and clubnight

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