Video: Black and white graffiti by Italian masters Sten & Lex
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Why do one by one what is so much better together? This question was asked by the Italian artists Sten and Lex, who in 2002 decided to work as a duet. Since then, their unique black and white graffiti has gained popularity around the world, and the artists themselves have become some of the most famous street artists in Europe.
Sten and Lex are, of course, not the real names of the artists. But they were not chosen by chance. “Sten is based on the word 'stencil' (stencil) and Lex means 'law' or 'rule'. Consequently, in a pair, the meaning of "the rule of stencil painting" is formed, the artists explain.
The authors say that they did not receive any special art education. They began to create graffiti using stencils at a time when street art in Italy was considered something not particularly legal. The technique used by Sten & Lex is called the "hole school" by the artists themselves: it is the use of stencils with many holes of different sizes, as a result of which the final image looks like a photograph. A similar technique was often used in the 60-70s of the last century when printing newspapers. Sometimes Sten & Lex paint directly on the walls, and sometimes they create something like posters, which are then attached to the surface with glue.
Sten & Lex explains their decision to create graffiti in black and white as follows: "We prefer to use black and white colors, dots and lines, because when studying our works at a distance of chiaroscuro they make graffiti realistic." Although sometimes the authors still deviate from their rules and include a little color in the wall drawings.
Sten & Lex's subjects are quite diverse. There are self-portraits of the authors, and images of historical and religious figures such as Mother Teresa, Van Gogh, Eisenhower. The artists say that they were once arrested by the police in Naples, only to then be asked to paint the building of the police station.
More works by the authors can be seen here.
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