Dublin based street artist Asbestos’ newest show at Safehouse Gallery features portraits of boxers from the Ligoniel Amateur Boxing Club in North Belfast. His works are reminiscent of JR’s recent show which also featured photorealistic images on found objects – well, obviously for JR since they were photos but these works from Asbestos are combination of photography and painting.
His moniker is explained in his words “street art is a little bit like Asbestos. Asbestos is all around us (in the walls and in the fabric of many buildings), but it often goes unnoticed. When we realize that it’s there it really gets our attention, it gets under our skin and we question it, it gets discussed. When I started putting work on the streets that what I wanted my work to do, to become part of the fabric of the city and to cause a reaction that makes people aware of their environment. So hence the name Asbestos.”
This was taken from a previous interview from Artasty, but more recently, they posted a nice read about his process and thoughts behind this show here. Also look for a video to come out shortly documenting the creation of this body of work.
Photos after the jump.
Exhibit open until Dec. 11th
Safehouse Gallery
25 Donegall Street
Belfast 028 9031 4499 .
