Every year, the International Public Arts Festival (IPAF) brings together a collection of inspiring street artists from around the world to create new murals throughout Salt River with a collective message in mind.
This year the IPAF brought 20 artists together to produce breathtaking works under the theme Generation Next, which focuses on the power of generations to come and one generation taking over from another with more knowledge at their finger tips.
Here are the stunning new additions to Cape Town’s street gallery and the artists we have to thank for them:
1. Tim Marsh
Born in Paris in 1984 has had a colourful life going from extreme sports to practiced capoeira for 15 years.
When he found himself in the fashion industry as creator of trends for clothing brands in 2006, he discovered his personal style expressed initially through his first paintings which evoked a conceptual rendering of childhood memories, mainly represented by kinetic and ludic representations of emblematic animals.
Now you can see his work along the art tour in Salt River.
2. Nicholas Kerr
Born in December 1980, raised in Johannesburg and currently lives in Maboneng.
Despite formal schooling in traditional arts, his preferred artistic medium is spray paint, he is known as Dekor One, in the South African graffiti scene and is a contemporary artist primarily recognised for street art.
His capability of painting anything with a spray can has earned him a few projects around the world.
3. Shinji Akhirah
Shinji Akhirah is a Cape Town-based creator whose work is inspired by intuition, self-analysis, natural observation and the desire to achieve a quantum level of understanding.
He is an adaptable, fluid and empathetic entity that admires the simplicity of a single vertex and at the same time finds peace in what is seemingly complex.
His beautiful mural carries these messages, and can be seen in Salt River now with a feminine form as the focus.
4. Klipper Millsap
Born in the south of the United States, Millsap’s work is inspired by vintage imagery and design.
His compositions are playful and bold with a touch of cheekiness, and an air of the unexpected.
Most of his work is commercial with his clients including Facebook, Marriot Hotels INC and more, he studied Illustration at the Savanah College of Art and Design and now one of his unique works has a permanent home in Salt River.
5. The Creative Yeti
The Creative Yeti, also known as Dylan, creates works carrying a message from Mother Nature herself and almost always focus on raising awareness of protecting the environment and connecting with locals while he does it.
His beautiful work that now calls Salt River home communicates the story of nature and the earth featuring marine life through to a more jungle-like environment.
6. Mandy Schöne-Salter
Mandy Schöne-Salter is an interdisciplinary artist working in urban art, photography and community art.
She studied photography at the Nepean Arts and Design Centre and participated in an intensive Public Art workshop lead by New York Artist Kendal Henry.
Since 2013 Mandy has worked on multiple street art projects in Australia, Germany and Singapore under the synonym MAN.De.
She works towards giving a voice to those who need it most through her work. Those who have the pleasure of seeing her work are given a glimpse into an imaginary world created by children.
7. Bona
This unique mural was painted by artist Bona from Berlin. Her work is focused on huge heads painted in a variety of shapes and colours in a number of different styles.
“I started with paste ups in the streets of Berlin in 2006. Meanwhile, my heads feel comfortable internationally and the paste ups became Murals,” she said.
This work is meant to carry the message that as people and a community we are better together than alone.
8. Justin Nomad
One of the murals that best carries the theme of this year’s IPAF is this one done by Justin Nomad.
He is a South African based mural artist whose work can be found locally all over South Africa, as well as internationally in the UK, NY and Asia. His style ranges from street art to courtier, with a focus on portraiture, realism and city landscapes using a wide variety of mediums
This work shows how times have changed over the years and how children these days can read a book either straight from the bookshelf or on an iPad.
9. Zola Tsotetsi
This talented artist was born in the Eastern Cape and produced this unique piece in record given inspiration by the young child who lives in the house that he painted on.
“I was born in the Eastern Cape, and later moved to Cape Town around the ’90s for studying and work purposes. I graduated from Cape Peninsula University of Technology for electrical engineering and have worked several years in the Information Technology field as a technician, however, it was not my first love and found myself seriously wanting to focus on art,” said Zola.
His work has a high level of realism while often focusing on varied subject matter that is often fantasy based.
10. Aleksandro Reis
This extremely talented artist was born in Brazil in 1974 and specialises in murals. He uses tropical colours and unique elements of patterns inspired by the area he is painting for.
His works are always of great cultural importance in his country and when he travels as well.
“I think that art aims to elevate the human spirit, if it departs from it loses its value” says Reis.
If you’d like to see these amazing works and the many more available for viewing in Salt River check out ipafest.co.za where you can book a street art tour or download the tour app that acts as your virtual guide to Salt River.
Pictures: IPAF Facebook