Sunday, February 5, 2012

Street Art in Yangon: Rendezvous

To relieve myself of the dregs of sickness from a lasting hangover, I took a bike ride around the block. Not 2 minutes of biking from my hotel I came upon the sound of a DJ and a crowd of people standing around a couple of graffiti murals. Of all things to run across in Yangon, it was a street art exhibit! The show was called Rendezvous and judging by the crowds and the quality of work, there will be a growing contingent of urban artists based in Myanmar and south east Asia.

I am beyond thrilled that I found this show. Driving up and down the streets around Yangon I have seen the smiling vampire tag:  

'Smile Evil Smile', near the Sule pagoda, dowtown Yangon. Photo courtesy of Alicia Stolsmark.

There is also a girl with a gas-mask stencil along Kaba Aye pagoda road and sparse other tags. This show featured work by both of those artists, Cap (from a previous post) and many many more. 

I would have taken more photos, and better photos, but first let me tell you something about Myanmar. Sometimes the power goes out. Sometimes there is not electricity to speak of in the first place. Things are not always, in fact, rarely as one might expect them to be. It is both maddening and endearing. It is unique. I was unfortunate enough to show up at this electricity-impaired opening around dusk, right when it was getting quite hard to see without suitable lights... here's what I was able to come away with:

Cap

'Smile Evil Smile'

SCY Crew

Many thanks to organizer Thu Myat and all of the contributing artists. Hopefully many more shows like this will be possible in the future. 

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Cap


Check out this Swedish artist living in Myanmar. I still haven't quite figured out his technique- typewriter prints through stencils on paper. The effect is shadowy from a distance and intricate up close. I may be partial as the subject matter is largely scenes and themes from my current home, Yangon. The need to locate beauty in the urban mess is also present, and arguably universal in urban art.

http://capism.se/