His portfolio ranges from conceptual street art pieces, to permanent public artworks and exhibitions.
r1. is a Johannesburg-based contemporary street artist. The essence of his work is to develop site-specific art pieces in public spaces, to create visual conversations with residents and the general public.
His portfolio ranges from conceptual street art pieces, to permanent public artworks and exhibitions.
Veins of a city
Although he studied fine art, which played an important role in his creative development, he soon realized that he wanted to do “art in the streets” compared to being in studio all day.
He idolizes the streets saying: “The streets are the veins of a city. They gather, transport and transform our daily experiences and interactions. We can read a city by its streets, the same as we can read a sample of blood from a body. Shared spaces become the places where new collective identities are formed.
“The streets are where we walk, where we talk, where we meet others, where we ‘are’. The street’s identity is created and constantly reinvented from the interactions between people living in it and using it. From past to present, these interactions allow for continuous re-combinations of experiences.”
He has experimented with different media including sculpture, paintings and light-box installations but the streets are where his passion lies.
“I consider the street as an open canvas. I work with urban interventions and collect every day found materials, transforming them and placing them back where they came from, to become a part of the city’s journey. The resulting artwork is tactile, moving within the motion of the cityscape. Like the street, the work finds its meaning once an interaction with the passer-by takes place,” he said.
See more of his works here.
