Recap: NuArt Street Art Festival Featuring Etam Cru, Dot Dot Dot, Martin Whatson and More

Etam Cru

While the collective mindset at some street art festivals seems to be “go big or go home,” at NuArt Festival in Stavanger, Norway, the line-up of artists seemed more concerned with creating deliberately-placed works with an underlying political punch. That’s not to say that a few mammoth pieces weren’t painted. Polish duo Etam Cru (who are featured in our current issue, Hi-Fructose Vol. 32), true to their form, left behind a storybook-like mural that added color to the overcast landscape. The piece pictured a sleeping boy tucked into his bed with a can of spray paint sticking out from under the covers — a young artist in the making.

Coinciding with the street painting, the artists created installations and hung their studio work up in the nearby venue TOU Scene. Spanish artist SpY’s street work and coinciding installation were a brazen word play that, while open-ended, to the American viewer can’t help but evoke a commentary on the United States’ muddled foreign policy in the Middle East. SpY’s mural reads “ERROR” while his corresponding neon installation reads “TERROR” with the light of the “T” extinguished. John Fekner created a similar propaganda-like street piece that simply read “Broken Promises.”

Irish duo Icy & Sot painted a black-and-white stenciled mural that was so textured and detailed, it resembled a large-scale etching. Huddled figures stand close together, wrapping themselves up in blankets amid debris. Icy & Sot added a wooden extension to the wall to make their figures tower over passersby, presenting a view of poverty and urban decay that one can’t easily overlook. As street art rises in popularity and becomes more accepted by mainstream art institutions, the artists at NuArt reminded us of its roots: the voices of people that otherwise go unheard.

Photos by Henrik Haven unless otherwise noted.

Etam Cru