Nabil and Franck are, what we would like to call, entrepreneurs within the graffiti scene, two guys driven by their passion and working hard to achieve their goals. However, Nabil and Frank views it differently from us. They are more inclined to see graffiti as a way of life rather than a hobby. In other words, they do what they love.

French Graffiti

Their most recent project was the French Graffiti project which was all about getting a touch of France to Stockholm. It also served as a platform for people wanting to learn and practice graffiti and was open for people in all ages. Nabil and Franck got involved to teach, share, inspire and give grafitti the attention it deserves by inviting well known artists like Reso, Scred, Mondé and Ndek to represent the art.

The idea for the project came from missing the French graffiti culture in Stockholm. Nabil and Franck wanted to combine their biggest passion with their roots from France and create an event for both grafitti artists and people in general, curious in what’s happening within the street art scene.

The French Graffiti project was held in the end of March on various places like Konstskolan Basis, Konstart and at Snösätra Rågsved.

Spring Remake

Next up is the Spring Remake where Nabil and Franck together with artists from around the world will remake the graffiti painted walls of Snösätra in Rågsved into new awesome graffiti art.

During 17-19 April, people can hang out with good music, good vibes and see art take its form live.

Nabil and Franck like the idea with the event and says: “It’s a great opportunity for the Graffiti to show its real side and to spread the true and happy feeling of the art we are making. For three days people will see an incredible change and creativity take form. Just to hang out, socialize and create something amazing. We are really glad to have this opportunity and hope that all kinds of people will come and join”.

“Good people good project” – Franck

Credits:

Artists: Scred, Reso, Mondé, Soe Fame

Photography by Pierre Vincensini, Clement Cayrou

One of the first street artists in Sweden, the graffiti pioneer Dwane emerged on the scene in the early 1980s out of Gothenburg, during the first European wave of graffiti artists that had been inspired by New York graffiti.

Over the years his work has developed a more conceptual and problematisational approach. He is known for mixing images and symbols, questioning their content and challenging the viewer’s perception, as with the portrait of Charles Manson, now with a YSL logo on his forehead instead of the original swastika. Or when he established The Hades Rowing Club, which is an interest organisation promoting the idea of a non-capitalist afterlife. Membership to this club is free and for eternity, and simply gained through embracing the idea that death, or what might possibly lie behind it, is free of any monetary systems.

Dwane’s latest project, “Writing my name until it matters” – to design a concept for how graffiti can enter the art and gallery environment – involved painting his name in layers over and over again over the course of three years. The goal was to extract the essence of graffiti. The result is an abstract mass, leaving no name to read and no typographic code to decipher – almost a process of “anti graffiti”, utilising the most essential means of creating an identity while destroying it at the same time.

The project was documented in the book “Writing my name until it matters”, which is available from several online bookshops. The works were exhibited in 2012 at Skalitzers Contemporary Art in Berlin, in 2014 at Det Nya Muséet in Stockholm, and in 2015 at Make Your Mark Gallery in Helsinki. In 2015 they will be in Tokyo, and in 2016 Dwane is planning to finally exhibit the “Writing my name until it matters” series in New York, bringing his contemporary vision of graffiti back to its original hometown and taking Dwane’s career as a graffiti artist of more than thirty years full circle.

Hugely inspired by Dwane’s work and with legal graffiti being allowed on a selection of walls in Stockholm this summer, we thought now would be a good time to shine a spotlight on the genre. Enter Stockholm Street Art Project (STHLMSAP), a collaboration with the art-driven shoe brand BucketFeet, which has strong roots in street-art culture and whose mission is to connect people through art – its BucketFeet Artist Network has been involved with more than 4,000 artists in over 60 countries. STHLMSAP’s aim is to help emerging artists create and engage with street art, and the project comprises a competition and inspirational workshop that will support and push these artists, giving them the tools to find their own direction, as well as the opportunity to make contacts.

Working with Fryshuset – a not-for-profit youth-orientated body that runs up to 50 different programmes throughout Sweden, covering education, culture, entertainment and key social issues – The Forumist is inviting readers to submit their work for the competition.

The judges have been chosen by So Fame, a graffiti organisation that is bringing together Sweden’s best street artists to exhibit their work at Snösätragränd in Rågsved. 

Representing the vanguard of graffiti art in this country, these judges are Gore Fx & Loads crew, Bless Loads crew, Yash, Huge, Fotograf Strangefruit, Soe wsb crew, Bayne wsb crew, Zappo and Puppet.

Credits:

Visuals by DWANE.

Special thanks to BUCKETFEET.