COLOR BLOCK # 4 : GARY / PREF ID / OPPERCLAES

The fourth edition of COLOR BLOCK took place in Vreewijk, in the South of the city. For this edition three artists collaborated on a new public artwork: Gary Stranger (UK), Pref ID (UK) & Opperclaes (NL) The artwork covers two walls and a lawn on the Dordtsestraatweg, offering a two- and three-dimensional combination.

Gary Stranger is one of the worlds finest free hand typographers, coming from the London graffiti scene. His works stand out by minimalism and extreme precision without the use of tape or lasers. Although he never saw himself as a part of the visual arts scene, he was discovered by several galleries and international companies like Fendi who present his works to an international audience. However, Gary is a real ‘self made’ artists who sees the medium Instragram as the main stimulant of his career and wide international fame.

Pref ID also originates from the London graffiti scene, which he grew into as a natural result of his interest in skateboarding and hip hop music. Moving trough the streets of London with it’s wide transport network carrying tags and pieces, he became inspired by the typographic part of it. In his works he constantly seeks for development and mostly chases the pure fun of making it. His works are characterised by layering, creating optical illusions and perceived depth. 

Opperclaes consists of Bruce Tsai-Meu-Chong and Linda van der Vleuten. The Rotterdam based duo offers several creative services under one name. They offer a platform to talented artists and designers, produce their own artworks and program and produce for other cultural events and organisations. For COLOR BLOCK #4 they produced one of their signature artistic products, this time making it part of a collaborative artwork.

The sculpture part of this art work was since been removed due to a plan for new buildings on the field.

Workshop
Part of Color Block #4 was a workshop at Speeltuin de Vaan. Under guidance of Mesh’s artistic director Danijel Stoiljkovic local children painted one of the walls at the playground.