When art is signage: new works of art on road signs at the Cd Studio D'Arte.
Road signs represent indications and limits necessary to direct traffic or a flow of people. They are urban elements known to citizens all over the world, immediately understandable, almost an alphabet necessary for living in the city.But what if such recognizable elements as road signs were reinterpreted by our artists according to a street style?
Road signs and Street Art: 4 important artists.
Street Art, the most widespread artistic movement in the world, perhaps the most democratic and communicative form of contemporary art , has always experimented with different means and supports to be able to express itself: stencils, stickers, posters are just some of the tools used by street artists contemporaries and among these, some also use road signs.
Now let's see 4 artists who use road signs to express their creativity: the first is Mark Jenkins , an artist known internationally for his street interventions and his extraordinary sculptures. The artist created the “Signs Of Spring” , in which he transformed “authoritarian” road signs into delicate spring flowers.
The second is Clet Abraham , the French artist who has been coloring the road signs in Florence and many other cities for 15 years with his sticker art. Clet, with his urban art interventions, communicates a new visual language that breaks the routine and surprises those who observe them.
Its modifications do not remove the inherent potential of the cartel, which is not trivialised, but rather add a further positive message, almost a harmonic integration.
In this way the prohibitions are almost freed from their unique language of constraint, to prefer the presence of stylized men who cut the signal or unfasten it as if it were a belt.
Artistic road signs can also be an occasion for social protest: think of the artist couple Jacob Sempler & Emil Tiismann who in Stockholm created a danger road sign depicting two people bent over their mobile phones, distracted by everything around them: a clear and strong message against the abuse of smartphones.
How did the idea of the exhibition on road signs in our art gallery come about?
The idea was born during the second edition of the Super Walls Street Art Biennial where various road signs were used to delimit the building site and secure the artists at work.
During the breaks, some of them had fun decorating the signs with tags, stickers and stencils.
So, seeing that the ones made during the festival were really expressive and creative, our gallery proposed to some of them to paint on about twenty street signs. Thus was born the exhibition "From Street Sign To Art"!
The reinterpretation of the road signs was surprising and completely unexpected: a no-overtaking ban has become an American drive-in, a curious child emerges from a no-go sign, a stop sign becomes an invitation not to stop believing in one's dreams and a slippery road warning sign has turned into a racetrack for Donkey Kong to whiz along, leaving New York behind.
Other signs make the observer reflect on important issues such as environmental sustainability and peace: just think of "Take me Home" , a stop sign in which a polar bear is shipwrecked floating on the now melted polar caps, looking at us in disappointment;
Also on a stop sign was also represented death, disguised as Ghostface, waving a newspaper with the words "STOP WAR" written on it. Even death is against the atrocities of the war in Ukraine and asks humanity to stop it.
Any , Shife , Alessio-B , Zero Mentale and Nico , a member of the French crew La Crémerie , have shown that art manifests itself in a thousand ways, and the medium on which it is represented is nothing more than a surplus to their talent and their creativity.
Come and discover these completely unusual works of art in perfect Urban Street style in the gallery, or look at them on our website . Surely you will want to have one in your home too!
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