Mysterious artists on the streets of Belgrade: Who beautifies the sidewalks and paints the steps in the capital? (PHOTO)
For several days, the attention of the citizens of Belgrade has been attracted by the unusual mosaics on the streets, more precisely on the holes where the concrete has cracked and where in these rainy days there should be ponds. Instead, you can come across many different colors that you can’t resist without photographing them.
Just a few days later and a few steps away, in the center of the city, the pillars painted in bright colors appeared near the National Theater in Vase Čarapića Street. They are met with the same enthusiasm as the mosaics, and passers-by cannot help but stop.
Have you recently walked through the central streets of Belgrade and felt as if something was watching you? It turns out you might be right. But don’t worry, these little “monsters” keeping an eye on you are anything but creepy — they’re the work of a French street artist Smile CyKlopawhich transforms public spaces and street fixtures into wonderful art inspired by, you guessed it, Cyclops.
A little further, down the street, more precisely on Studentski trg in front of the Ethnographic Museum, there are pillars with motifs of the Pirot carpet, which, like the previous ones, were painted by a French artist. The museum on Student Square is celebrating its 120th anniversary.
“In my work, I try to get rid of conventional supports such as walls or canvas, to invest objects. Putting my eye on them, I try to bring them to life, to give them a soul and to give birth to a form of fantasy. Playful and anthropomorphic art that borrows its artistic language from toys, comics or animal bestiaries…” says this artist.
Le CyKlop paints pillars around the world, mostly with motifs of eyes, flames or animals.
The mosaics are also the work of a French artist
When it comes to mosaics, we know that they are also the work of a French artist Ememema who around the world “patches” cracked sidewalks with unusual mosaics.
Mixing countless shapes and sizes of colorful ceramic tiles and majolica, sometimes shiny stones and bits of glass and steel, Ememem uses a quick glue and his skill to keep these works of art in place. Although he has exhibited in galleries and museums, the street remains his true love, having grown up playing outside and absorbing its carefree, humorous culture.
To formalize his style and technique, Ememem coined the term flaking, which is commonly used today to denote this new “art of patching holes”. In addition to Belgrade, these mosaics can also be found in New York, Paris, Zagreb and other cities around the world.
It is also interesting that in the workshop, Ememem creates replicas of his sidewalks, exhibited in international galleries and contemporary art fairs. He stayed in Belgrade in September, where he beautified the streets of Belgrade.
The street artist based in France prefers to stick to his pseudonym Ememem and rarely stands out in public – “It’s the sound my motorcycle makes when I go on an erratic mission. It seemed like an immediate fit when I started in 2016. To be honest, I’m not a good communicator. I prefer to let my gravel poetry do the talking for people. That’s why I stuck to my alias for so long. People can imagine me however they want and it doesn’t fascinate me at all,” he once said.
You can see these unusual sidewalk mosaics in the following locations:
- Cetinjska street number 15
- French Street near the National Theatre
- On the corner of Dositejeva and Simina
- Dobračina street number 16
- On the corner of Dobračina and Braće Jugović Street
Source: BIZLife/Mladen Stanković
Photo: BIZLife
Source: bizlife.rs
