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Coming to the outside of the Tate this summer
Evening Standard 2 Apr 2008The work of six acclaimed street artists is to transform the outside of Tate Modern.
In the first commission by the gallery to involve the building's exterior, six 15-metre wide by 12-metre high works will be visible on the Thames side of the building from 23 May until the end of August.
It will also be the first major public museum display of street art in London.
The artists who will create the original pieces are Blu from Bologna, the collective Faile from New York, JR from Paris, Nunca and Os Gemeos, both from Sao Paulo and Sixeart from Barcelona.
Their work began in public urban spaces and their styles evolved from street art and graffiti traditions. But all six have reached a level of recognition where their work is represented in major collections and galleries all over the world.
Curator Cedar Lewisohn said: "It's an exciting project and one that has not been done in London on this scale before. These are big pieces - one artist described it as monster.
"As these will be outside, there were all kinds of factors - technical and aesthetic that we had to consider. But the artists' work is quite beautiful and stunning - we believe the public will love this."
Street art, as opposed to textbased graffiti and tagging, is notoriously hard to categorise and is a genre in constant flux.
Yet such styles go back as far as Pompeii and have influenced artist such as Picasso.
The images that Blu produces portray a macabre fascination with death and the inner workings of the human body, while Faile take inspiration from deteriorating advertising and flyposting. The work of photographer JR has a strong political and social impetus. Nunca is heavily influenced by the geometric patterns and colours found in the indigenous artwork and culture of South America, while Os Gemeos - twin brothers Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo - create dreamlike images taking in aspects of Brazilian folklore.
The work of Sixeart combines psychedelic abstraction with childlike images.
Mr Lewisohn said: "These are some of the best street artists in the world today and normally fans of this genre would rarely get to see their work as it is meant to be displayed - outside in an urban environment.
"We also hope to introduce street art to a whole new audience."
Street Art at Tate Modern opens at the same time as the gallery's four-day festival of art and performance, UBS Openings: The Long Weekend.
