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catbyte

(34,174 posts)
Tue May 21, 2019, 09:34 PM May 2019

Dutch Artists Paint Giant Bookcase On An Apartment Building Featuring Residents' Favorite Books

By​ Sofie Tapia

While many street artists choose abandoned buildings and old train tracks as the canvases for their explosive masterpieces, Dutch street artist Jan Is De Man chooses to go another route – by realizing lively works for local communities who want to connect. His aim is to create projects ‘where everyone can identify themselves’ by asking for the involvement of the residents’ who commission him. Jan Is De Man’s most recent gift to a neighborhood – a whimsical tri-level trompe l’oeil mural bookcase on an apartment building in Utrecht, Netherlands. The artist was aided by fellow street artist Deef Feed who, he told Bored Panda, had worked on a few other murals with him and is the co-owner of their tattoo shop “Blackbook Tattoos” in the center of Utrecht.

Street artists Jan Is De Man and Deef Feed teamed up to create a literary mural for a neighborhood in Utrecht, Netherlands

The location for the mural came before the concept said Jan Is De Man, “I know the people who live on the ground floor very well. They’ve wanted a mural by my hand for a while. They also wanted to let me feel free in my design as long as it would bring something positive to their neighborhood. The first idea was to paint a smiley. A very big smiley. Because I believe people become more happy when they see a smiley every day. But this idea didn’t feel complete, it felt too simple.”







After studying his canvas he came up with the idea for an l’oeil mural – “visual illusion in art, especially as used to trick the eye into perceiving a painted detail as a three-dimensional object.” He said, “I studied the shape of the house and the location where this house stands in and suddenly the idea of making a huge bookcase hit me. I love making illusions on walls and I like to see smiles on people’s faces and this idea (I thought meanwhile) could bring all this together.”



snip

https://www.boredpanda.com/street-art-utrecht-apartment-building-transformed-into-bookcase-jan-is-de-man/


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Dutch Artists Paint Giant Bookcase On An Apartment Building Featuring Residents' Favorite Books (Original Post) catbyte May 2019 OP
Wow! I love it! Irishxs May 2019 #1
Looks fantastic! BigmanPigman May 2019 #2
Outstanding! 3catwoman3 May 2019 #3
That's fantastic! NurseJackie May 2019 #4
This is the public library in Kansas City... softydog88 May 2019 #5
Love it ! nt eppur_se_muova May 2019 #7
Oh how marvelous! Trailrider1951 May 2019 #6
Love it.. iluvtennis May 2019 #8
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