FREE PUBLIC EVENT - 1AM is pleased to present, “Becoming Lucid”, opening on September 4th, 6:30 – 9:30pm. The exhibit will showcase oil paintings on canvas by French street artist and graphic designer, Arthur Maslard a.k.a. RATUR.
Each painting in “Becoming Lucid” based off a computer-edited photo, usually of the artist himself. He then uses the photo as a guide to manipulate depth of field, carefully rendering the foreground while allowing the mid and background to slip away into less contrasted illustrations. As a result, each painting contains in itself a sense of unreality; a dreaminess that seems to push forward out of the painting. The hands of his figures in particular seem to reach out of the canvas. Allying digital work and technical virtuosity, the series questions the painter’s place in our overwhelmingly digital society and challenges the relationship between street art and a more classical, academic current.
Born in 1983 in Le Havre, France, RATUR took after his father who was a graphic designer and photographer. After high school, he began studying visual communication with focuses in illustration and design. He quickly gravitated toward graffiti art after a chance meeting with a graffiti artist from the nearby town Rouen, Madkow. They later formed the MV3 crew along with RATUR’s brother Sckaro, touring France to paint at various festivals and alongside other prominent graffiti crews. He has become known for his many illustrations and murals for playgrounds and skate parks throughout France as well as his designs for vinyl records, logos, and other digital forms of visual communication. He also works with Burning Man, creating digital designs for the yearly festival in Black Rock City, Nevada.
The exhibit will be on display until October 3rd. If you would like to preview the show, please contact
[email protected].