This is the third year for Northern Norway’s UPN Festival and this year it’s on an Island called Røst and includes a collection of artists eager to do site-specific and environmental works – one evolutionary development in the mural festivals that blossom throughout the world right now. BSA is proud to bring you images and interviews along with Urban Nation this year at UpNorth, where the seagulls never stop calling and the sun never goes down this time of year.
“We try to show a big spectrum of styles and have as much variation as possible,” says Gøran Moya.
Moya runs the UpNorth art festival with about 5 other people, he says. “Without these people this would not be possible.” This year Urban Nation from Berlin, including director Yasha Young, joined with the UpNorth team and co-curated the selections of artists as well.
BSA: How did this Street Art festival begin?
Gøran Moya: It began with getting Phlegm to paint a big mural in Bodø in 2013. The positive response to this made me think that it could be possible to extend this into something bigger. We have some great locations up here. Something different. So in 2015 the first UpNorth Festival was arranged in Sulitjelma, the second in 2016 was in Bodø, and this year in Røst.
JAZ. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
BSA: How did you chose these artists this year for the festival?
Gøran Moya: This year´s festival is curated together with Urban Nation Berlin. We are just trying to get artists that we think fit the surroundings, but not in an easy way; Something that brings a contrast.
More from Mr. Moya tomorrow but now lets look at the two interventions from artists JAZ and Dzia.
JAZ. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
Franco Fasoli, or JAZ, has travelled to many cities over the last decade painting murals that often involve historical archtypes at war or readying for battle. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in the early 80s, he says his studies in ceramic art have also been taking form in his mind and he will be doing more sculpture.
We have actually seen two of his sculptures in person over the last year: the emerging lower half of a military horse coming up through the floor at the Artmossphere Biennale in Moscow last September and again earlier in Berlin for his anamorphic multi-limbed wresters in the PM/10 show at Urban Nation with Instagrafite last June.
For UPN here in Røst we find JAZ painting a new stately equine image as well, and you can see his affinity for the depth and volume of form even in his wall murals.
JAZ. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
BSA: This is an unique place for a mural festival – both because it is away from a major urban center and because the days are 24 hours long this time of year. How would you describe painting on this island this time of year?
JAZ: The environment in Røst is great and it is like a surreal dream to paint there- such an amazing place to paint. The contact with the locals is kind of limited, but there was a lot of super good energy .
BSA: You have been doing murals for many festivals and towns for a while. How is your practice evolving today?
JAZ: Right now I’m concentrating more on sculpture than before and I am working with new kinds of materials, new languages, pushing me away from the profile of only a muralist. I am interested in new views of my work, getting involved with institutions and using my background as a public artist to generate bridges between different art perspectives. The role of the “street artist” or “contemporary artist” is something that I don’t want to be too concerned with – I’m trying to not get fixed in either of them .
JAZ. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
JAZ. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
JAZ. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
JAZ. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
Dzia. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
Another world traveller, artist Dzia didn’t have to fly too far from his native Antwerp to bring his geometrically influenced feathered friends to this Norwegian wall. With a masters in fine art from the Royal Academy, Dzia only joined the mural game half a decade ago and his active animal kingdom has brought him opportunities to work with big brands thanks to a commercially appealing technique.
Dzia. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
Here in Røst the wood façade of this one-story barn building is a natural analogue to the aviary scene he adds, even with such porous material soaking up the pigments of his paint. Nearer the chopping waves of the sea, his illustrative COD fish forms adds color to a plainly white waterfront building.
He says he loved all the time spent here and the other artists and his hosts. “6 nights on the amazing island Røst, 115km above the pole circle and 100km from the city Bodø, Norway, all 24h daylight and a magic midnight sun!”
Dzia. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
Dzia. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
Dzia. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
Dzia. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
Dzia. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
Dzia. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
Dzia. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
Dzia. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
Dzia. Up North Fest 2017. Røst, Norway. (photo © Tor Ståle Moen)
Our thanks to our partner Urban Nation (UN) and to photographer Tor Ståle Moen for his talents.
See our Up North roundup piece on The Huffington Post
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
