The ‘World’s Largest Mural’ Is Artistically Created In Norway During Nuart Festival


In art’s history, there are two types of popularity. The first type is artist popularity. This is when the artist themselves receive more recognition and praise than their plethora of works. Renaissance artists Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (better known by his first name only), as well as modern artists, like Pablo Picasso and Akiane Kramarik, are fine examples.

However, most popularity in art falls under the second type, which is the artwork itself. For example, many may not know who Maria A. Aristidou is, but her paintings are popular for being created with coffee as a medium. Same thing goes for Marco Grassi. He may not be well-known, but his mixing of hyperrealism and surrealism for his paintings of human bodies are making a scene.

This brings us to French artists Ella & Pitr. Unless they are followed within the artists’ social and media circles, most people may not know who they are. However, their work on murals is recognized worldwide. Now, they are being honored for creating the “world’s largest mural” at Norway’s Nuart Festival.

Ella & Pitr created the mural starting on Friday, August 21, 2015, for the upcoming Nuart Festival in the Klepp Kommune. With the help of an army of volunteers and Block Berge Bygg providing their building’s roof — which is about 21,000 square meters (or 226,040 square feet) in size — as its canvas, Ella & Pitr set to work over the course of four days. Needless to say, the mural — titled Lilith and Olaf — is amazing, especially when viewed from above (shown in the video below).

James Finucane, the Nuart Festival’s general manager, claims Lilith and Olaf has earned the “world’s largest outdoor mural” moniker, as reported by Huffington Post. To be fair, it is difficult to confirm such a feat because the nature of murals is usually evanescent, but Jaime Rojo and Steven Harrington, the co-founders of Brooklyn Street Art, believe it to most likely be “the world’s largest figurative mural,” naming it a “pivotal street art moment” for the 2000s.

“We’ve always admired their [Ella & Pitr] willingness to push past comfort zones and embrace a hybrid of academic programming and a rebellious streak that stays true to graffiti’s roots. [Founder and director of Nuart Festival] Martyn Reed continues to shepherd a shrewdly curated collection of rogues and standard bearers every year. They’re already breaking records and we haven’t even gotten there!”

As for the Nuart Festival itself, it will take place this coming month opening on September 5, 2015, with the exhibition lasting until October 11, 2015. Bachelors of Science and Art (BSA) experts list Ella & Pitr as “people to watch” at this upcoming festival. Others include Jamie Reid, Futura, and Icy & Sot.

[Image via Ella & Pitr]

Share this article: The ‘World’s Largest Mural’ Is Artistically Created In Norway During Nuart Festival
More from Inquisitr