ETNIK is currently in Jacksonville, Florida invited to paint a wall for the newly established GNV URBAN ART project, organised and curated by Iryna Kanishcheva.
When looking at the mural, there is one thing we all can agree; the mail theme is water. When explaining the concept for the mural, ETNIK says: “I chose water as an element for Jacksonville because it is everywhere in Florida. If you look on the map, it is like Italy, all surrounded by water. Ocean, river, fishes and everything what is in the water represented in the elements. Nature in opposition with geometric shapes.”
ETNIK refers also to Plato’s geometry. Plato believed that he could describe the Universe using five simple shapes, 5 regular symmetrical 3-dimensional shapes, which he maintained were the basis for the whole universe, and which have become known as the Platonic Solids which he also associated each of the five Natural elements; the Earth the and cube, Air with the Octahedron, Fire with the Tetrahedron, and finally the Universe with the Dodecadedron.
ETNIK’s mural is part of a new cycle of five walls that are intended to materialise Plato’s five solids. The first of this walls is therefore devoted to water and titled Eikosi (Greek “twenty”) which refers to the ICOSAHEDRON and its twenty faces.
“The ICOSAHEDRON of Plato is a metaphor to represent the ocean sections created in my style. Urban agglomerations and natural elements (that float in an indefinite space and represent the contradictions of the urban spaces we live in) is the line that always mark my evolving style in recent years, on the revenge of the nature on urbanization.” – Etnik.
About the Artist
Born in 1972 in Stockholm, Sweden, he currently lives and works in Florence, Italy. ETNIK became part of the graffiti scene in the early 1990s, since then his production has undergone countless evolutions reaching his current aesthetics characterised by the representation of the urban landscape as abstract agglomerations that evolve into 3D representations and peculiar constructions.
In 2009 ETNIK founded with Duke1 the group Bunker108, which currently cooperates with public administrations to organise numerous kinds of artistic events. In 2013 he exhibited his work at the MUBE in Sao Paulo (Brazil), which was followed by shows in Paris, Düsseldorf, Turin, San Francisco, Nice, Chicago, Monaco.
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About GNV URBAN ART LLC
Since 2015, The GNV Urban Art website [gnvurbanart.com] has informed Gainesville about all relevant urban art activities. It is a liaison between artists and community that supports, promotes, and administers outstanding public art events with the goals of beautification, restoration, and raising awareness. GNV URBAN ART LLC is operated by University of Florida MBA Candidate Iryna Kanishcheva. The inspiration, passion, international networking and years of experience led her to establish innovative projects in Florida and her home country, Ukraine.
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Author: Fran
Founder and editor of Urbanite. Street Art lover who after the finishing her MA thesis on the Mexican and Norwegian muralist movement in the 1920-50s, developed a fascination for street art and graffiti that eventually led to collaborations with different art blogs, including the creation of this one.
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