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 Vallarta Living | Art Talk | April 2006 
Julian Beever, the Pavement Picasso
 PVNN
Internationally renowned Artist Julian Beever is often called the 'Pavement Picasso' for his enormous 3D pavement sketchings that bring his art well and truly to the streets.
It was while working with a Punch & Judy show in York that Julian Beever saw other pavement artists and first became inspired to give pavement art a go.
The 3D aspect to his work came much later while he was working in Brussels, "I decided to get into 3D after seeing the effect of tiles being removed from the street, and later trying to recreate the sense of depth in a drawing."
"Once I realized you could make things go down, I realized you could make them appear to go up and I began experimenting."
Julian works in chalk, so his art, which takes up to 3 days to complete, is there only as long as the elements allow, "If it rains it means I've done a lot of hard work for nothing, but I usually manage to avoid that."
"The important thing for me is to get a photo of it at the end. For me, I'm working towards building a photograph as my end result, and if I get that I'm happy."
In fact it's not just the weather that can be cruel. During Julian's last visit to Birmingham his drawing was swilled away from the pavement due to a mix up with permissions.
Julian admits that some people do see his work as graffitti, and don't feel it has a place on public streets. Happily, he says, he mostly receives a positive reaction and people like and enjoy his art.
"My art is for anybody, it's for people who wouldn't go into an art gallery. It's art for the people. Art shouldn't be locked away in galleries and libraries and books. Art should be for everybody and not just art boffins, historians and so-called experts."
Julian's 'trompe l'oeil' (or 'trick of the eye') pavement art is amazing to see. The effect is so convincing people will swerve to avoid potholes he has drawn in the pavement. But just how does he get this incredible effect?
"The secret is to set up a camera on a tripod and keep it in one spot and check every mark you make. It's really just playing with perspective to make it appear different to what it really is," he says.
In the last 15 years Justin has produced hundreds of pieces of 'pavement art' at venues all over Europe. The pictures on the pavement draw people in, and Julian ironically, is the captive audience that listens to each and every person who comes by to view his work.
Click HERE to check out a photo gallery of some of Julian's works. |
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