With the Global Street Art Story Project, we selected 16 artists from around the world to produce 16 unique silkscreen prints. Our intention with this project is to contribute to the promotion of street art culture worldwide, expose our local artists among international names, and create a rich and inspiring selection of artwork for our followers. We love street art for many reasons, though mainly because it strongly promotes the democratization of art by virtue of being displayed in public spaces on an unfiltered manner and at little to no cost.
For the most recent chapter of the Global Street Art Story Project we have launched a print by Maser, representing Ireland.
Maser is best known for his geometric color block works in varying scales, from small works on canvas to over-sized installations on buildings. We had the pleasure of meeting Maser this summer during the MURAL festival where he took over the St-Laurent Metro station. The installation completely alters the exterior of the station and draws attention to its unique architectural features. For many Montrealers, these features are likely overlooked as a result of daily routines. Post re-vamp, the station now jumps out of its surroundings.
(Photo credit: Rachel Machalani, Decompoz Magazine)
This was not his first installation of the sort, we can look for example at Maser Motel or Limerick City to name a few, where entire buildings are taken over with flat layers of colors that induce a reality altering effect, blurring the lines between two and three dimension.
Maser's style is definitely unique and the scale at which he is able to create his installations is impressive. We are so pleased to be able to share a piece of this body of work with you!
ARTIST BIO:
Maser is an artist originally from Ireland, now living in the USA. As early as 1995 under the moniker ‘Maser’, he began painting graffiti on the streets of Dublin, where he soon earned the respect of other graffiti artists in Ireland and throughout Europe for his unique abstracted style. After studying Visual Communication at Art School in his home city, he went on to establish himself as one of Ireland’s leading visual artist working in the urban environment.
His early work, such as ‘They Are Us’ Project (2010) was strongly influenced by typography, letterforms and sign painting, but soon after 2010 his style gradually began to transition towards graphic representation and geometric abstraction. His works demonstrate unassuming techniques emphasizing simplicity of form.
Since 1995 his passion and drive has awarded him the opportunity to paint walls across many countries, including; Ireland, UK, Austria, Germany, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United States.
His large scale mural work and his collaborations with artists such as musician Damien Dempsey, TED prize winner – JR, ConnorHarrington, and Fintan Magee have won him notoriety not only in the graffiti world, but also have helped establish him in the contemporary art world.
Most recently he was invited as one of 11 selected artists to produce a film to accompany the songs on U2’s 13th studio album ‘Songs of Innocence’.
In recent years his work has allowed him explore new mediums and produce works not only on walls but now canvas, video and large scale 3D installations.
In 2013 he worked with Tandem Press at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin, USA to create an edition of fine art prints, which were recently exhibited at IFPDA Print Fair 2014, New York, Ink Miami and Expo Chicago.
(Artist bio and photos from maserart.com)
