Edmonton street art collection #1: Rust Magic International Street Festival - Part 1 - 2018's @okudart's epic mural

Hey Steemies!!

With the wild wild west of a summer and all the festivals I wanted to attend drowned out and washed away in the rain and my sorrows lol , 2 more that really peek my interest and one is currently ongoing and about halfway thru. This is a newer festival being in it's 4th year gaining traction in our city that grows with every show. Although I didn't post them yet, maybe I was waiting for the right moment and this is it, @silvergingerman and I like to take the back and side streets of popular areas or landmarks and the city's downtown for wall art and graffiti. With him having the weekend off, I figured it would be an interesting outing to get out and see the murals in the making during the 2019 Rust Magic International Street Mural Festival. The walls are full of colorful stories and history in Edmonton...and they say we are a bunch of rednecks and have no culture....Pfff...Whatever Canada eH! (Except Saskatchewan, your cool in our good books as our ugly twin) 😆😛 Alright enough being a smart ass inter-provincial banter now back to business.

Shot 1/250 sec. f/8 46 mm, ISO 100

The highlight of last year's festival was this epic mural by famous Spanish muralist Okuda San Miguel aka @okudart.

https://www.instagram.com/okudart/?hl=en

https://www.facebook.com/OKUDART-202312969832570/

http://www.streetartbio.com/about-okuda-biography

This talented artist never ceases to amaze the world with masterpieces of colorful geometric art and murals. The conversation starter was partially paid for by a crowdfunded campaign of $40 000 to cover part of the $84 000 price tag with the owner of the building to bring this artist to color our city with a magic rainbow touch with the biggest mural this city has ever seen. At 1400 sq feet and 6 story high, this colorful beauty stands proud in our downtown's Whyte Ave in Old Strathcona and certainly makes a statement near the northwest corner of Whyte Avenue and Gateway Boulevard. The mural sits behind the building in the back alley. A great place to admire and get a view or take pictures is near the popular local Strathcona farmer's market or Fringe theater. If you are ever in the Edmonton area, it's definitely worth seeing this eye candy for yourself, it's a masterpiece and a visual wonder that will brighten anyone's day.

When asked about the mural’s inspiration, Maxxis said, “It’s full of color. It touches a little on oil, our wild dogs and wild cats, and it’s a symbol of unity and coming together. It represents Alberta in a colorful and abstract way.”
Source:https://roundhouse.net/stories/okudart-art-all/

Here is a closer look. It's such a huge work or art, hard to fit in one picture and grasp the impact it has seeing it in real life. I didn't put my photo tag on it because I don't want to soil Okuda's creation so please be respectful of my image and do not plagiarize or use without permission the only exemption to this is legitimate steemit curation teams.

Shot 1/500 sec. f/5.6 65 mm, ISO 200

Every few years the wall art becomes weathered by the elements and gets painted over with a new legacy, I wanted to make it my mission as a photographer to try to keep track of the various wall art before they disappear into a faint memory. It will make for an interesting future collection of our city's culture and history to look back on. This year, the festival will be featuring 20 international and local muralists to splash our city with more visual candy and instagramable walls for the perfect selfie at various locations across Edmonton. My goal is to start releasing some of my street art photography and to start following this festival and the artists more closely and showcase those whom I can find information about the artist.

If you are near Edmonton and have the opportunity to check it out, here are some details about the festival, if you are far away but interested, you can always add it to the bucket list for another year.

https://exploreedmonton.com/articles/guide-to-rust-magic-2019

https://www.facebook.com/rustmagic/

I wanted to start a project and see if I can catch some of the murals in the making and return when they are completed and make a mural in progress type post, we'll see what I can accomplish, the festival is halfway thru so it might be a stretch but at the very least I can bring you some completed pieces. I didn't decide who I will follow during the festival but I'm definitely interested in following the Kingsway project by local artist Jill Stanton that will be ongoing for part of the year inside the shopping mall...YAY indoor project, no rain!

https://www.kingswaymall.com/the-kingsway-mural-project/?fbclid=IwAR1-h9d8m9dA2U3y42_iq4AFJ9s9A15Q3lYTF-l55ia11rY0Us_boXq3LBs

Taken by @silvergingerman with iphone 8.

Images taken with Nikon D7000 and Sigma 18-200 mm lens unless otherwise stated.

Cheers my friends! X🐞X