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Two Dutch street artists created a literary mural for a neighborhood in Utrecht. By featuring the residents’ favorite books, the amazing artwork brought the residents closer together.
Art for Everyone
While most artwork can be admired in museums, Dutch street artist who goes by the artist name Jan Is De Man, loves making artwork that anyone can enjoy. He creates lively works for local communities who want to connect. He told BoredPanda that his aim is to create projects ‘where everyone can identify themselves’ by asking for the involvement of the residents’ who commission him.
Jan created the mural bookcase in Utrecht, the Netherlands together with fellow street artist Deef Feed.
All walks of life “The neighborhood where this work was made is filled with different cultures. And I’ve noticed that this project brought (and hopefully for as long as it lasts) people together without pushing it. They meet each other through books. Regardless of the differences in cultures, regardless of the differences in political point of views.” – told Jan to BoredPanda. Source: BrightVibes – Michiel de Gooijer More than a big smile After studying “his” facade, Jan came up with the idea for an l’oeil mural – “visual illusion in art, especially as used to trick the eye into perceiving a painted detail as a three-dimensional object.” He told BoredPanda, “I studied the shape of the house and the location where this house stands in and suddenly the idea of making a huge bookcase hit me. I love making illusions on walls and I like to see smiles on people’s faces and this idea (I thought meanwhile) could bring all this together.” Source: BrightVibes – Michiel de Gooijer Eight languages Central to his artwork was to involve the residents in the artistic process, “We entered the community by asking people for their favorite books and we were able to put 8 languages and cultures together in the same concept. Everybody, every age, every culture, every language was welcome. The only rule I set up to participate in this art project was: no political books and no religious books. Besides that every book title was welcome.” Source: BrightVibes – Michiel de Gooijer Seven day work week According to BoredPanda, the artists took seven days to take the idea from paper to the wall of the apartment building. He said the most difficult part was the initial concept planning, “think most of the time the most difficult [part] is to get the right concept, that fits the wall, that fits the neighborhood. but when you got the right idea, then there is not much difficult.” Source: BrightVibes – Michiel de Gooijer Jan is the Man On the right, the street artist himself… Jan is the Man Source: http://janisdeman.com/hoe-werk-ik/
Utrecht… home to some amazing (street) artists
There’s no need to hide it… at BrightVibes we love Utrecht. Utrecht is a.o. the home of the BrightVibes HQ, and founder Michiel de Gooijer. We were positively surprised when we learned that one of the world’s best 3D street artists Leon Keer, is also from Utrecht.
More amazing street art from Utrecht Artist Leon Keer creates incredible 3D street art, called anamorphic art. His art will amaze you! Source: BrightVibes - Facebook
![According to BoredPanda, the artists took seven days to take the idea from paper to the wall of the apartment building. He said the most difficult part was the initial concept planning, “think most of the time the most difficult [part] is to get the right concept, that fits the wall, that fits the neighborhood. but when you got the right idea, then there is not much difficult.”](https://www.brightvibes.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/phpmR5B99.jpg)
