sbestos is a street artist hailing from Dublin, Ireland. He specializes in mixed media artwork, combining mediums like photography and painting onto found objects (often wood). He then installs these pieces either back onto the streets, or consigns them to gallery wall spaces. He works with found objects like drawers, desk tops, tables and assorted bits of wood often found in city skips. The dumpster diving pays off when Asbestos embellishes his finds with mixed media that includes photography, collage, gold leaf, spray paint and acrylic. Quite often portraits are the focus, but there is special attention paid to hands as well. Inspired by the textures of the space that surrounds him, Asbestos appreciates the variety of personality offered by the worn edges of anything that is not new and shiny. It’s not clear what his exact process is but the end-results are truly incredible. The photographs he incorporates really add a sense of realism, while the wood he uses (found in the streets) really gives the artwork that worn look and provides great texture and contrast. Street art is a little bit like Asbestos. Asbestos is all around us (in the walls and in the fabric of many buildings), but it often goes unnoticed. When we realize that it’s there it really gets our attention, it gets under our skin and we question it, it gets discussed. When I started putting work on the streets that what I wanted my work to do, to become part of the fabric of the city and to cause a reaction that makes people aware of their environment. So hence the name Asbestos. My background was in art history, studying in Dublin and Rome, but all the time working on my own ideas and skills. I never went to art school, so I’ve had to learn everything off friends or worked it out myself. But I do find it essential to know what came before me and to draw on the these influences. Caravaggio was a great influence as was Velasquez because his skin tones are mesmerizing. But I’ve also been influenced and inspired by the Pop art of Warhol, Raushenberg and Rosenquist. For more information or to get in touch with the artist just visit his website below.
www.theartofasbestos.com
