Shida

Street Artist Biography

Murals

Artist: Shida 

Location: Melbourne, Australia

About: Shida is a heavyweight of Australia's burgeoning street art scene, with dynamic murals, monumental in scale, spread across the east coast and internationally. A gestural climax of color and ecstatic line surges through his mystifying imagery, allowing viewers a glimpse of a sublime, pulsating paradise. Shida has ignited his career with a tour that spanned four continents, and his ongoing success in the art world is testament to his relentless creative spirit.

Meaning Behind Name: Shida was 14 years old when he was searching for a name to write graffiti.  He was looking for a name that sounded Japanese. He chose Shida, and the rest is history.

Lifestyle: After waking up, he usually checks his emails and begins to work on art. This can include working on paintings, preparing for the street art, or simply sketching. He also enjoys hanging out with his girlfriend and playing video games.

Shida's Street Art Videos

Shida Serpent from Shida ZRF on Vimeo.


Painting on, Passing through from H. Eva Parkes on Vimeo.


Crystals of the Colossus from Shida ZRF on Vimeo.

Follow Shida

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shidaart/

http://instagram.com/shida_zrf
https://vimeo.com/shidaart

Sources: 

http://artcollective-brisbane.blogspot.com/2011/03/5-minutes-with-shida.html

Mata Ruda

Street Artist Biography

Wheat Paste

Name: Mata Ruda

Place of Birth: San Jose, Costa Rica

Currently Living: Brooklyn, New York

Street Art Type: Wheat Paste

About: Mata Ruda is street artist currently based in Brooklyn, New York City. The intention of his work is to memorialize the nobodies, the ignored, the socially and culturally overlooked, those who in our society are consider the "others", by creating large portraits with symbols and objects (such as textile patterns, stars, moons, maps, artifacts, etc) that expose and celebrate stories that otherwise would go unnoticed.

Quote: "We can't understand what is happening to 'something' if we aren't looking but nothing is going to happen to that 'something' if we don't look deeply. That's why so many things with incredible potential go unnoticed.....because nobody bothers to look." - Alejandro González Iñárritu.

Objective: Mata Ruda is all about the magical moments, that occur constantly all around us, to him they are magical and more real than what culturally we accept as "reality". He is currently working on a series of very large portraits commemorating contemporary people (with black and brown as opposed to black on white paper) in reference to the colossal Olmec heads and indigenous stone spheres found throughout South America, Central America & Mexico. He plans on having a solo show focused on the "Colossal Series" in the Spring or the Summer of 2013. The show will be called, "Incurable Otherness"

Meaning Behind the Name: Mata Ruda = Spanish for Rue (Herb). Historically, the herb is notorious for its many medicinal AND harmful capabilities. It is also used in throughout Latin America for its spiritual powers of protection against negative energies, and warding of both foreign and internal dark spirits and it can be used to bring luck, guidance, wealth, etc...

Quote: Much of his work has to do with traveling, immigration, and adapting to new worlds/cultures. so when I read this quote by Richard Wright, I decided it was meant to be: "I was leaving the South to fling myself into the unknown...I was taking a part of the South to transplant in alien soil,to see if it could grow differently, if it could drink of new and cool rains,bend in strange winds,respond to the warmth of other suns and, perhaps, to bloom”

Definition: "Mata Ruda" literally translates to "Rough or Hardy Plant", only hardy plants can transplant to alien soil, survive, respond, and bloom..

Admiration: He wanted the name because of my admiration for the work of Pablo Neruda (originally i wanted to be either NERU or RUDA so i decided on RUDA with the word MATA in front so that it would have multiple appropriate meanings.)


More on Mata Ruda

http://mataruda.tumblr.com/

http://instagram.com/mataruda

Roa | Muralist and Street Artist Biography

Murals

Roa

Owl Mural

Street artist Roa is a muralist from Ghen, Belgium. He grew up in the eighties and naturally was inspired by the American life; music, skating and so forth. The love for music, more in particular hip hop, quickly joined his curiosity in graffiti. Like most muralists, he began by spraying throw-ups under bridges and walls.

Vital Substance

One's love for animals could not be expressed nearly as much as our artist Roa. This mysterious Belgian muralist has created hundreds of murals through Europe. He has also traveled to other locations around the world. He is primarily known for his strong obsession for animals and rodents. He often combines life, death, and life after death in his murals, which quickly distinguishes him amongst traditional muralists. His animals are painted to include skeleton and internal organs, making the sight even more realistic. The artist states, "Organs are the vital substances of our body and they represent a lot of the symbolism which I like!"

Roa Skeleton

His preferred forms of methods to paint are by using spray paint or acrylic paint. In fact, most of his work is created through a mixture of black, white, and grayscale colors. At times, the muralist prefers to sketch, specially those large murals. He first began his artistic career by paining buildings and warehouses in his hometown. Nowadays, his work can found worldwide.

Some major cities, where his work can be found, are:

• London 
• New York 
• Berlin 
• Paris



Roa in Mexico

Muralist Roa's true obsession for animals is unparalleled and he uses this obsession to paint for inspiration. Roa uses native animals based on the location he is painting in. For example, if he goes to a specific location filled with roosters, like Mexico, then he will paint a rooster. Not only does this make him a stand-out artists, but his attention to detail is phenomenal. He truly has a pure passion for painting. Roa simply paints to paint- no other reason.

Rodent and Skeletons

Although the street art is generally conveyed in a very natural matter, even his dead animal paintings seem at peace. Not only that, but his extra large scale black and while local rodents may be viewing the image at work from nearby.

More Roa pictures here and here.

Other Muralists:

• Aryz
• Btoy
• Claudio Ethos

Sources:

http://www.fatcap.com/article/roa.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jaime-rojo-steven-harrington/roas-magic-naturalism-str_b_819296.html