All posts tagged: MrKas

Mr. Kas Reminds; “Time is what you do with it” in Waterford, Ireland

September 15, 2022 Artists

Waterford Walls, a mural festival in Waterford Ireland, may make you think of the famous crystal first, and you would be correct to make that association. The Waterford Glass House was founded around the same time as Beethoven was publishing his first works in 1783, say local historians. The festival offers a collection of quality painters from many backgrounds, formal and informal, a number of walls. With local Irish and invited international artists in league, the festival has been creating murals across the county – including in Tramore, An Rinn, Ballyduff Upper and Tallow.

MrKas. *“Time is what you do with it.”* Waterford, Ireland. (photo © Gringo Pictures)

Speaking of time, today we see the new piece by street artist Mr. Kas, who reminds us of the ephemerality of life.

“Time is what you do with it,” he says as he reflects upon his portrait of a senior with her eyes closed.

If you are lucky, you’ll reach the age of his subject – and it may happen far quicker than you had assumed. Mr. Kas suggests we take each moment with serious consideration and learn how to enjoy while embracing the rather quick march of time.

“The only moment we have is now,” he says, “Shall we have this in mind to use our time in the most fulfilling way possible.”

“Time is now. Enjoy it, because we don’t know when it will be our last moment.”

MrKas Paints “Slava Ukraini” in Portugal

April 11, 2022 Artists

Many street artists around the world are creating new artworks on the street in solidarity with the Ukrainians. MrKas sent us his emotional appeal from Portugal where he painted this new one modeled after a boy who was caught amidst the attacks. He also had the pleasure of meeting his mom Elza Uskas since she and her son escaped the bombs in their home city. Ms. Uskas gave him permission to share her words here;

MrKas. *“Slava Ukraini”*. Porto, Portugal. (photo © MrKas)

“We fled from home, in grief, in fear, from those who remained. Borders are open. We travel through beautiful cities, and meet kind people… but my heart is broken, I want to hug my family and friends. I want them to sleep peacefully instead of hiding in the basements from the missile attacks. Our life will never be the same again. And our children will never forget the sound of the siren roar that they will dream of at night …”

BSA Images Of The Week: 01.16.22

January 16, 2022 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

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Welcome to BSA Images of the Week.

This week we see the rubber band of our normal expectations is stretching and contracting in the city, whether you are referring to the insistant Omicron wave, the students who walked out of classes this week, the new graffiti show at Phillips, uneffective politicians, a stagflated economy, spiking gas prices, a volcano, post-war hangover, and drums of war with Russia. It’s like all the chaos of the 1970s but without blacklight posters, waterbeds or Patty Hearst. And now you can get weed legally, man. Speaking of the 70s, here’s how to Dress Like Alana Haim in Licorice Pizza.

At the moment in New York most of us are staying off the street because it is bitterly cold outside. We just had a wind chill of -1 degrees fahrenheit (-18 celcius). Not a lot of graffiti and street art goes up during this weather.

But that doesn’t stop us from going out to shoot it.

So here’s our weekly interview with the street (in New York and Miami), this week featuring 2OX Crew, Arson, ATOMS, Boy Kong, Buff Monster, Ivan Roque, Jason Naylor, Jimenez, Kern Myrtle, MrKas, Patrick Kane McGregor, and Pleks.

Buff Monster in Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kern Myrtle in Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jason Naylor in Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MrKas in Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ivan Roque in Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Patrick Kane McGregor in Little Haiti, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Boy Kong in Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For the stencil, unidentified artist. Life imitates art on the streets of NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Brooklyn, NY. January 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MrKas Inspired by Sculpture and Classical Antiquity in Pompei

October 11, 2021 Artists

A new cultural eruption in the heart of Pompei, Italy, the first edition of the Pompei Street Festival in September included frescoes and free music and many opportunities for people to experience contemporary life in this city famous for its buried and revealed history.

MrKas. *“Leave no stone unturned”* Pompeii Street Art Festival 2021. Pompeii, Italy. (photo courtesy of MrKas)

Portuguese street artist Mrkas here ties the two together with his mural inspired by a sculpture in Pompei’s archeological park, the site of the ancient Roman city Pompeii buried by the lava of Mount Vesuvius in 79 BC. The elevated street depiction elevates the blindfolded faces in the Centaurus basement; inspired by the works of Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj.

Southeast of historic Naples and its forms smoothly draped or otherwise, MrKas appropriately brings his virtuosic application of color and light to add dimensional realism to the new wrapped faces. It’s natural for him, a fan of 3D and hyperrealism – and here in Pompei, his new work is positioned properly between classical antiquity and the current fashion of art in the streets.

To learn more about the Pompei Street Festival please see @pompeistreetfestival

MrKas Paints “Humanity First” in Portugal

June 29, 2021 Artists

You would like to think that we all have a basic set of priorities, although it’s not readily apparent. Street artist and muralist Mr. Kas boldly posits that we need to remember that it’s “Humanity First”.

His personal tribute to firefighters, he painted this photorealist piece in Vila nova de Gaia, Portugal.

MrKas. *“Humanity first”*. Vila nova de Gaia, Portugal. (photo courtesy of the artist)

MrKas Paints “Still I heal” in a Porto Factory

March 22, 2021 Artists

We always appreciate the repurposing and re-imagining of existing features in the man-made environment. Artists have myriad ways to reconfigure and transform the simplest of situations, and here in Porto, Portugal MrKas has done it twice. First he elongated this fallen wooden beam and imagined it as a lit match stick. Later he painted over his own creation, transforming the view to a human heart pierced by an arrow.

It’s good to see his imagination at work. He calls this anamorphic wall in an abandoned factor, “Still I heal”.

MrKAS Goes Sprays Anamorphic in Porto, Portugal

January 28, 2020 Artists

With his own particular brand of magic realism and optic art that is sometimes referred to as anamorphic, MrKas has a command of the fact-based world that enables him to fool viewers into seeing something else when they are standing in the right place.

MrKas. Porto, Portugal. (photo courtesy of MrKas)

A regular participant in Street Art festivals with commercial sensibility and the wide-eyed wonder of newly discovered adventure, MrKAS has a sense of humor as well, and he’s ready to play – at least with your perceptions.

Born in Porto and now living in Brussels, the aerosol painter has travelled to countries like China, Malaysia, UAE, Indonesia, Italy, Greece, Malta, France, the Netherlands with realism that goes askew.

Here back in his Portuguese hometown, MrKas is spraying in multiple directions, playing with your perceptions some more in an abandoned factory.

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