One way to put discarded cardboard and scrap metal to good use is to recycle them. Another way is to create mindblowing urban cityscapes, which is exactly what German artist EVOL did.
It should be noted that the Berlin-based artist uses not only cardboard in his artworks, but also scrap metal. One of the most interesting aspects of his creations is that he integrates any writings that are present on the original piece of cardboard in the final product. This way, the text turns into what looks like urban graffiti.
From a distance, one would have great difficulties in distinguishing EVOL’s artworks from real cityscapes, especially since the former are actually inspired from the dilapidated low income housing in Berlin. Even though people often throw away new cardboard boxes, EVOL has no interest in those. It is the weathered pieces of cardboard who give the impression of neglected quality of housing. Even the tape fragments, the dents and the torn edges of the cardboard boxes play a role in the final masterpiece. As EVOL himself explained, “clean surfaces don’t speak to me, so recording these marks is a process of visually remembering the charm of a place that will soon be painted over.”
All of the multi-layered stencil paintings created by this artist are of unpopulated buildings. That does not bother us at all, since the people would have a small impact, really. Instead, the artworks impress through the great attention to detail. Everything, from the rows of windows and balcony railings to the satellite dishes and street lamps seems to be taken from a real photograph of that respective area of Berlin. In the end, all these stencils represent an illusion, but one done so well that the our eyes can hardly tell the difference.
The new collection of EVOL, known as Repeat Offender, is currently exhibited at Jonathan LeVine gallery in New York, so people who happen to visit or to live in The Big Apple these days are highly recommended to go there in order to witness a new form of art. This is in fact the artist’s first solo exhibition in the United States, but there is no doubt that many more will follow here and elsewhere, as the artist already has a lot of exposure on the Web. The ones wanting to see additional images of EVOL’s artworks should head to Juxtapoz, where we discovered him, too.
If you liked this post, please check the DIY cardboard hexapod robot and this tasty gingerbread geodesic dome.
