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BustArt’s Pop-Graffiti Explosion in Richmond

Christina McBride | October 9, 2018

Topics: art, artist, Mural, nils westergard, public art, richmond, RVA, Switzerland, Wall Art

Swiss muralist BustArt has landed in Richmond, and his latest pop graffiti mural sits at the intersection of E Franklin St and N 18th St in Shockoe Bottom. Searching out a shady spot on the sidewalk during Richmond’s 85-degree heat, he sighed from relief on a break from working the wall.

“Too hot for a Swiss guy,” he said.

For the past few weeks, he’s been in Greensboro collaborating mural projects with Richmond’s Nils Westergard. Both have collaborated on multiple large-scale projects in the past — however, BustArt’s pop graffiti style contrasts with Westergard’s hyper-realistic black and white portraits to create a dualistic image. The two styles compliment each other as opposites, combining the playful and approachable with RVA’s famous dark and brooding pieces.

“I’m only here because I lost my passport in Greensboro,” said BustArt, as we chat about creating art in Richmond. Planning to paint his way up to D.C., he commented, “Nils made all these arrangements to get walls for me, so I can make my way up to D.C. to get my new passport.”

BustArt Paiting in Shockoe Bottom

Richmond may not have been the original plan, but BustArt said he is glad that he made it to the River City. The other sites he passed in the South have been underwhelming in comparison, and he admires Richmond for its murals.

“It’s always crazy, I like it,” he noted on painting in the U.S. versus Europe. “Way different, bigger.”

Street art in the U.S. is different for the European artist. It’s different, bigger, and even came with a delivery cyclist dropping off a little natural supplement while he painted.

“See, people make my life nice here,” BustArt said.

The delivery man responded, “Hospitality, man. Southern hospitality.”

BustArt noted that graffiti on the street often tells the life of the neighborhood. Seeing the youth out being active means something there is alive — there’s a little bit of revolution left in the people’s mind. Saying he saw a little revolution in Richmond, he added that there’s more happening in the U.S. right now than in Switzerland.

“Switzerland is not at all busy,” he said. “Here, I wouldn’t say it’s super busy, but everywhere something is constantly going on. It starts with the crazy cars, to the food places, to all the decoration, to those really old fucked up places, to the super crazy new stuff.”

Richmond, he said, is somewhere in between the old and new; the old buildings are appreciated because they’re more fun to paint. He prefers the older structures (largely due to their worn textures), but noted he likes the contrast of the newer buildings along the background in the cityscape.

The E Franklin St wall is part of an older building. When it’s finished, Spongebob, Road Runner, and a 1940s Juliet Jones-inspired female figure will all be staring into the street. Every one of BustArt’s pieces include a pop culture character. For larger projects, he asks the surrounding residents who their favorite cartoon characters are: In Greensboro, a neighbor’s request gave him the subject for his Marvin the Martian wall.

His process: There isn’t one. BustArt chooses his characters and rolls from there.

“Most of the time, I don’t know what I’m doing,” he said. “I plan basics like the characters, but the rest is just totally free style. On the spot.”

The method works, and for the most part, the results are the same.

“I always mix it up really colorful, really poppy, really mixed,” BustArt said. Since he’s been in the U.S., he can’t remember how many murals he has painted. He completes one a day, minus his massive collab piece with Westergard in Greensboro — but even that only took two days.

Keep an eye out for your favorite cartoon characters next time you’re traveling between D.C. and North Carolina. If you can’t find them anywhere, check out BustArt’s Instagram and website. Odds are, they’re nearby somewhere.

*Photos by Christina McBride. Cover photo by Landon Shroder

Virginia Beach Launches Inaugural Mural Project in the ViBE Creative District

Landon Shroder | May 14, 2018

Topics: art, ed trask, Norfolk, richmond, Virginia Beach, Virginia Beach Mural Festival, Wall Art, Wall Murals

Virginia Beach (VB) kicked off its inaugural mural festival this past weekend in the city’s ViBE Creative District. The ViBE, which runs parallel to the oceanfront, has recruited ten artists to paint ten murals over ten days. The festival, sponsored by Towne Bank, has recruited a roster of notable artists from Hampton Roads, Richmond, and from as far away as California and Connecticut. According to the organizers, there were a total of 88 artist submissions from “12 states across the country as well as 10 different cities in Virginia.” The ten property owners selected the mural that would adorn their building from a pool of over 300 submissions.

Virginia Beach has a steady arts tradition from the Museum of Contemporary Art to the annual Board Walk Art Show, yet unlike their sister city, Norfolk, there has not been a strong effort to bring wall art to the Resort City until now. And what little wall art there is, has a decidedly military angle to it: planes, soldiers, flags, and service dogs.

RVA Mag headed down to Virginia Beach to catch the launch weekend and take the vibe (zing!) of the art going up. With the ViBE’s mural project in full swing, Virginia has become one of the places to follow for some of the best wall art and murals globally.

The Richmond contingent of artists was on full display with notable appearances by Ed Trask, Caesar, Brad Bacon, who was assisting Norfolk artist Charles Rasputin, and former River City artist Tim Skirven. Catching up with Trask, he spoke about how he had been in talks with VB City Council before, sharing his positive experiences from the Richmond Mural Project and how projects like these foster community and local talent.

Ed Trask’s Mural

“I love that VB is turning around and not just rich decadence,” said Trask, referring to the abundance of financing that is always allocated to the oceanfront economy.  “It is cool to be at this inaugural event and is indicative of cities who want to start arts districts…celebrating arts and arts districts is part of everything.” Trask’s mural is on the side of Davis Ad Agency and is an homage to the original black women of advertising. “I wanted to celebrate the first African American woman in advertising. Instead of having some misogynistic ad man, it is a tribute to the ad world, but not the worst factors of that time.”

Skirven, who was painting alongside Three Ships Coffee, offered a similar homage, but to Chief Powhatan – the leader of the Tidewater Tribes in the 17th Century. “The mural might be called Spirit Rising,” said Skirven, taking a break from painting at night to speak with RVA Mag. “This is a way to remind people who were here first.” His mural, a magnolia and foliage set against the chief’s visage is also a nod to the original three ships that landed in the Tidewater area and the namesake of the coffee shop it adorns. Growing up in VB, but traveling extensively abroad in Europe and North Africa, this was a chance for him to bring his talent home, saying this was the kind of project he wanted to do when he was younger but never had the opportunity.

Tim Skirven Painting at Night
Tim Skirven, Work in Progress

Some of the artists from outside of Virginia included ARCY from Connecticut and Jeremiah Kille from Santa Cruz in California. “I live on water,” said Kille, who said his background was in shaping surfboards. A natural fit for the surf and beach culture of VB, Kille described his work by saying, “I look at form and composition, hence this design…it is something that is mathematical, all of the pieces of the puzzle coming together.” His piece, which runs perpendicular to Baltic Avenue and sits astride the piece by Trask is an abstract banderole of interlocking shapes set against a constellation of color scapes.

Jeremiah Kille’s Mural
Kille and Trask’s Murals

One of the most interesting pieces is Art is a Weapon, by Fang Gang’s Charles Rasputin from Norfolk. The piece, towering 40 feet into the air, is a camouflage motif of conjoined greens, purples, blacks, and beiges set behind a capacious heart and peace symbol. Taking a break from the 90-degree heat, Rasputin said, “I wanted to achieve something that not only complimented the architecture but stood out visually and carried a strong social statement without being brash or alienating the audience.” He was quick to describe the camouflage pattern as fashion forward, while also bringing a unifying message of love and peace to a city that has an extremely deep military tradition.

Some of the other murals beautifying the ViBE District in VB can be found below:

Igor from Igor’s Custom, Virginia Beach
Caesar from 1500 Studios, Richmond
Lisa Ashinoff, Virginia Beach
Scuba Steve, Virginia Beach

The festival will end next weekend with a closing “parking lot party” on May 19, which will include a question and answer session with the artists from noon on – this will be followed by a walking tour of the murals the next day.

Photos by Landon Shroder

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