BENGALURU: Serbian artist Artez is a man on a mission. He is here in the city to beautify the Cubbon Park Metro Station with murals that tell tales of the park.
Artez took to painting in public space when he was 15-years-old. He has painted most number of walls in his hometown, Belgrade, but isn’t sure how much of the art is still there.
“Street art is a very temporary form of art – you can never know when your piece will be painted over or destroyed in another way,” he says.
Andrej Zikic, popularly known as Artez, is painting two walls at the entry and exit steps of the station.
“My mural is inspired by the nature that can be found in the park itself – a lot of animals and floral motifs that are wrapping around two human figures,” he says.
For his research, he spent two days in Cubbon Park, sketching everything he saw. “I’ve also spoken to a lot of people about the things that make this park unique. In the end I came up with a ‘jungle’ made from different elements in the park,” says the 28-year-old.
This, however, isn’t his first street art in India. He first came to the country in 2011. During his stay in India, he made a decision to take to street art and later became involved with the artform as a full-time profession.
Artez has painted all around Europe (Germany, Spain, Greece, Macedonia, Bosnia, Croatia, Italy, Finland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, France, Portugal, Slovenia and Montenegro), in Brazil, Argentina and China.
“There is one main difference between street art and other forms of art – from the moment the piece of street art is finished it starts belonging to everyone, not only to an artist or a gallery/museum. Street art belongs to public, it is a common good and that is the main quality of this form of art,” he says of the art form.
Bengaluru already has a tradition of painting on walls, which gives it the good basis for further development of street art because people are already used to see ing drawings on the wall, he feels. “Now it’s time to bring some fresh, contemporary work in town,” adds the muralist.
The biggest challenge for him is to keep the artwork fresh and different, but unlike other artists, he doesn’t find it hard to fight with inspiration. “In times of struggle I find inspiration in reading books and listening to music, and of course doodling – that always helps,” says the artist who holds a Masters degree in architecture.
So how does one perfect artwork in public space? “Just keep coming to the wall until you are completely happy with the result.” he says. “He has this amazing skill to incorporate vivid colors in his works. He constantly gets inspired from the world and that shows on his style of work,” informs Amit Syngle, President-Sales, Marketing & Technology, Asian Paints Ltd, one of the organisers of the St+art festival.