Ox-Alien is a Dutch artist who started in the late 80's by first marking his name on everything that passed by, especially along the railway tracks and in high places. It is only from 2000 that he switched to "street art".
"I created this pink flying head with one eye as an "O" and one eye as an "X", because of this some people on the streets called it "Ox-Alien" and so a name was born.
Ox-Alien is part of the collective called Lastplak that won the Public Choice Award of the Dutch Street Art First Prizes. Lastplak is a group of eleven painters with different backgrounds and skills. Their aim is to paint on any surface, size or location. The collective has painted all over the world, but most of their work can be seen in Rotterdam, the place of their homebase. As an international artist, Ox-Alien has also participated in mural projects in Thailand, France and Greece, for example.
Ox-Alien recently produced a new work for SAMA : A corona virus awareness work painted in Geuzenveld, Amsterdam Nieuw-West: "And what better place than on the streets next to a park." The artwork ended up featured in local Gazette and GroenLinks magazine Helling.
What paint and technique is used ?
To create this work, the artist used latex paint for the background (dark blue) and then painted his characters with spray paint on top. For Ox-Alien, the street is his favourite medium: "A big empty wall and some bright spray paint colours is always great."
What the artwork depicts ? Why ? Is there a meaning throughout this work ? What message do you want to spread throughout this artwork ? How did the project come about ?
The artwork represents a small house in the middle with small characters inside, outside the evil coronavirus waiting to infect you. The message is simple: "Stay Safe, Stay Home». The Project was runned by SAMA I was asked to paint this wall before, but Corona came so we decided to make it a Corona awareness wall.
How do you live the context of coronavirus as an artist ? Is this context a source of inspiration for you ?
"I am normally a painter for festivals and because of the pandemic i don't have a job at the moment. I use the virus a lot now in my paintings on the streets it's a big inspiration for me. The virus characters really fits in my style of painting. »
In the current context, the Covid-19 also inspires many other artists around the world, here is a small selection:
Artworks by and from : Eme Freethinker (Berlin, Allemagne); Combo (Paris, France); Hijack (Los Angeles, Etats-Unis); Harry Greb (Rome, Italie); Kobra (Sao Paulo, Brésil); Stinkfish (Chicago, Etats-Unis)
Take care!