A mural from British street artist D*Face has been unveiled in Gothenburg. It forms part of the celebrations marking the cities 400th anniversary. Curated by Swedish urban art organisation Artscape. It joins a number of murals which have already been created in the region. The mural can be found at the international airport of Gothenburg-Landvetter.
D*Face is well known on the street art scene. Since the 90’s he has been creating murals inspired by pop and punk art. He has painted around the world for years and is also behind the Stolen Space gallery in London. Facing the main entrance of Gothenburg-Landvetter airport the latest piece by D*Face is called ‘Embrace for Landing’. It shows a couple holding each other and hinting at some hitherto unexplained drama.
Street Art in Sweden
The mural by D*Face in Gothenburg constitutes a new landmark on the ever growing street art scene in the area. Curated by Artscape, the organisation have been holding festivals around Sweden for a number of years. They are responsible for much of the growth of muralism in the country. Their aspiration is to promote the area as a leading destination for urban art.
D*Face Mural at Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport
Eventually the mural by D*Face at Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport will form part of the ‘West Sweden Street Art Trail’. It aims to link existing murals from artists such as SMUG, Dulk and Rone together with a digital platform and map. Very much it is a joint effort involving the artists themselves, the cities and the communities within them. It is also an attempt to make public art available for the benefit of everyone. The trail itself will officially launch in 2022.
Painting in Airports
Speaking about the mural D*Face said that the idea of painting in an airport particularly interested him. “People converge there, depart from, they arrive, there’s an excitement, there’s a sadness”. With this mural he said that he wanted to try and portray some of that. “I always like to have a back story. An underlying story behind the murals but I don’t really want to ever describe those. I prefer the viewer to interpret. Here you can see a pilot. You can see there’s some sort of romance going on, potentially. Are they parting? Are they meeting? It’s trying to speak of what happens at airports”.
The mural by D*Face was inaugurated on 31 May. The inauguration was live streamed and is available on demand through this link. All photos used in this post are courtesy of Artscape.
Inaugural Ceremony Film featuring interview with D*Face
Artscape is a non-profit organisation that seeks to inspire people and promote public art for everyone. Since it’s foundation in 2014 Artscape has produced and curated over 160 murals and artworks in different parts of Sweden collaborating with artists from all over the world.
