Tag Archives: Festival

Lek and Sowat Sandcastle for the LaBel Valette Festival

August 8, 2022 butterfly

Marking the fifth anniversary of the LaBel Valette Festival in France, artists Lek and Sowat have given a new identity to this 19th century castle, by painting all its surfaces and transforming it into a monumental sandcastle.

Located in Pressigny-les-Pins, around one hour from Paris by train, Château de la Valette sits on just under 100 acres of wooded land and is comprised of the castle, a chapel, and two three-storey dormitory buildings. After the colourful works of Okuda (2018), 3ttman (2019), the giant calligraphy of L’Atlas (2020) and the optical illusions of Astro (2021), this mythical duo open the LaBel Valette festival that will take place on August 26 and 27, 2022.

The LaBel Valette Festival, organised by UAC (Urban Art Crew) and U2A (Urban Art Agency), will take place on August 26 and 27, 2022 at La Valette estate in Pressigny-les-Pins.
The two days programme includes graffiti battles, a musical production competition, live painting, workshops as well as a series of music concerts. Full programme here

Check pictures of the work in progress below:

Lek and Sowat were struck by the intense history of the ‘Domaine de La Valette’. Firstly belonging to the estate of a Count and a Countess, it then became property of Franco, followed by the Spanish republicans. It was later transformed into a college, then fell into abandonment. And was bought by an individual. The castle holds eventually a strong position of Street Art in France thanks to the LaBel Valette Festival project.

The artistic duo decided to work around the image of the sandcastle, which refers to the ephemeral nature of Street Art, and pixels, which evoke the aesthetics of the 80s.
Using bright blue and neon colours, they painted 10 000 square meters to transform the castle entirely.
Lek and Sowat ’s Sandcastle illustrates this year’s theme of the festival “Believe in your dreams”: A sandcastle can be erased by the rising tide but is rebuilt thanks to the venue of a new artist. A sandcastle is fragile, requires attention and commitment. It is imagined, hoped for, then built.

Festival, streets, Toulouse

Toulouse: Miss Van for Rose Beton

August 10, 2016 butterfly

Miss Van is back to Toulouse with a new mural for the Rose Beton Festival (covered here).

‘La symphonie des songes’ mural features her signature sensual female character in a dreamlike landscape playing with colourful folklore masks from various continents, transporting us from China to Latin America.

Rose Beton Festival - Toulouse Miss Van-1-81 v1 _DSC0436v2_edited-1
_DSC0707_edited-1

If you are in Toulouse, you can view it on 5 rue du Pont de Tounis

Photo credit: Butterfly, Benjamin BigAddict Roudet and @juliemorize

View the full set of pics of the festival here

ROSE BETON FESTIVAL
Until end of August 2016

London, Street, streets

London: Lumiere Festival

January 19, 2016 butterfly

During four evenings from the 14th-17th of January, visitors could experience installations from the world’s most exciting artists working with light at across 30 locations in the UK capital for the Lumiere London Festival.

Architectural landmarks are being coloured with 3D projections like Westminster Abbey by Patrice Warrener, the Kings Cross Granada Building by Ocudo, or Piccadilly by NOVAK.

While Center Points lights have been temporarily moved to the National Portrait Gallery, Trafalgar Square fountains are transformed into Plastic Islands’ by activist group Luzinterruptus .

Lumiere London - Centre Point Lights

In shop windows, shimmering dresses by Tae gon KIM change colours with their fibre-optic LEDs, giving them a Cinderella-esque touch.

Within the famous pedestrian Carnaby Street, passers-by can enjoy the newly permanent installation Shaida Walking by Julian Opie.

Drawing massive crowds, the iconic phone box is turned into an aquarium by Benedetto Bufalino and Benoit Deseille.

Gigantic fishes Lumineoles are flying above Piccadilly, while Travellers figures by Cedric Le Borgne adorn rooftops of nearby buildings. Neon birdhouses by Sarah Blood are nestled within Brown Hart Gardens.

Lumiere London - Lumineoles / Porte par le vent Lumiere London - Cedric Le Borgne

The French collective TILT (not the graffiti artist from Toulouse) have created a giant luminous tropical garden in the centre of Leicester Square.

Janet Echelman used the data of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami from 2011, to create a 3D representation called 1.8 London.

Lumiere London - 1.8 / Studio Echelman

Further pictures from the Lumiere London Festival in Mayfair and King’s Cross below:

Lumiere London - Elephantastic / Catherine Garret             Lumiere London - LAB (AU)

   Lumiere London - Jacques Rival

Check the full programme here.

View the full set of pics here

Festival, Stavanger, Street

Upcoming: Nuart Festival 15

August 12, 2015 butterfly

Celebrating its 15th anniversary, Nuart Festival (see last year coverage here) will take place on the first week of September, 2015 in Norway. Renowned artists from around the world will come to the city of Stavanger with murals, installations and interventions and Tou Scene centre for contemporary arts, a former 19th century brewery, will host the festival’s indoor exhibition.

Nuart Festival 2015 artists include: Bordalo II (PT), Bortusk Leer (UK), Dolk (NO), Dotdotdot (NO), Ella & Pitr (FR), Ernest Zacharevic (LT), Futura (US), Harmen de Hoop (NL), Icy & Sot (IL), Isaac Cordal (ES), Jamie Reid (UK), Martha Cooper (US), Martin Whatson (NO), Outings Project (FR), Pejac (ES), Pixelpancho (IT).

Dot Dot Dot - NuArt Martin Whatson - NuArt

Nuart will also attempting to create the world’s largest outdoor mural of 21,000m2 in Klepp on the outskirts of Stavanger with French artists Ella & Pitr alongside partners Block Berge Bygg. In parallel, Sandra Chevrier (CA) will be introducing the Aftenblad Wall.

Nuart Plus, the festival’s annual symposium of academic and industry debates, artist presentations and film screenings will take place at Scandic Stavanger City hotel from Thursday 3 – Saturday 5 September. Here, key figures such as Evan Pricco (Juxtapoz), Jaime Rojo and Steven Harrington (Brooklyn Street Art) and critic and author Carlo McCormick will come together with artists and academics to delve into the culture’s roots and reflect on its place within the wider contemporary art canon.
Alongside the recurrent theme of Situationism, this year’s festival will explore notions of play and the ludic tendencies within street art and urban culture. From Jamie Reid – pioneer of the punk visual aesthetic – to conceptual artist Harmen de Hoop, photographer Martha Cooper and abstract graffiti pioneer Futura, leading practitioners from across the spectrum of street art will demonstrate how they approach their craft within the subject of play.

Find out more details about the programme and participants of this year’s event over at Nuartfestival.no.

Nuart 15
Festival: 3-5 September 2015
Exhibition: 6-11 October 2015

Festival, Stavanger

NuArt Festival: Borondo

September 8, 2014 butterfly 1 Comment

Known for his large scale expressionistic portraiture and his “glass scratching’ painting technique, Spanish artist Borondo created an oudoor mural as well as an indoor installation for the Nuart Festival.

The indoor installation features a quirky wooden house which lines look like they come out of a Scandinavian fairy tale.
In parallel a selection of scratch-painted windows have been suspended. Playing with light and shadows, viewers can see an image on the window, while its shadowy reflection on the wall shows added or different elements. For example a skull projects a shadow of a face, a tree of life comes out of a female body, and so on. The public reaction is impressive as they are left confused and wondering how did this happen?