Top street artist Fanakapan has created a bonus piece of his iconic 3D balloon art for Nuart – just as the festival starts work on the world’s largest paste-up wall project in the heart of Aberdeen.
After transforming Aberdeen Community Health and Care Village’s wall into a work of art, London-based artist Fanakapan has added his signature artwork to KMG’s mural on Palmerston Road.
KMG – Aberdeen-raised street artist Katie Guthrie – kicked off Nuart Aberdeen in June. She created two artworks for the festival – the aforementioned one behind Union Square and a smaller piece in Bon Accord garden roof park.
Working with acclaimed Nuart artists
Nuart’s production manager Jon Reid who has worked with the graffiti artists to help them brighten up the city with eye-catching pieces, said he enjoyed assisting them all, and described Fanakapan as “fantastic”.
“He was very focused on his work – he managed to do his mural (on Frederick Street) in three days,” said Jon.
“He said that while he worked on much bigger walls in the past, this was an ideal size for him.”
Jon said even though Fanakapan’s artworks look very simple from a distance, they’re actually very technical and a lot of detail can be discovered once people come closer to the mural.
Jon added: “It took him years to develop his style and build up his skills to be able to paint at that level – to achieve that 3D effect.”
Aberdeen as a destination for culture and creativity
Jon thinks that when successful street artists like Fanakapan come to Aberdeen, it “opens up a conversation about the city as a destination where you can see art” – whether that is street art, British Art Show 9 in Aberdeen Art Gallery, or pieces in smaller local galleries.
Nuart and other festivals in the city are making an impact on Aberdeen as a destination for creativity and culture.”
Jon is also responsible for Nuart’s Stuck Up which hopes to create the largest paste-up wall in the world in the heart of Aberdeen. Locals were encouraged to take part in the project, creating a collaborative half a kilometre long paste-up wall running from the East Green into the Tunnels.
Work begins on large paste-up wall
He said: “We’ve already started opening the envelopes and we literally have hundreds and hundreds of artworks. We have a lot of stuff to put on.
“There will be three or four of us working on the paste-up wall at a time. We plan to get it done in four days.
“Some people are still messaging us that they sent us artworks and they haven’t arrived yet, so we will add them later.”
Jon thinks the Nuart team will manage to create the largest paste-up wall in the world.
“Go big or go home,” he laughed.
“We’re really ambitious. This project really fits our ID. We want to create something powerful that will have a big impact both internationally and locally.
Jon said locals aged 4 to 84 submitted stunning artworks that he cannot wait to put up on display for both visitors and locals to see. Graffiti Grannies – crafty pensioners who bonded as part of a project introducing older people to street art – also took part in the Nuart initiative.
“It’s been a really wide selection of people who submitted their work, which is fantastic to see,” said Jon.
“I’d also like to say thank you to The Anatomy Rooms who have been taking a lot of parcels in for us.”