Art in Scharloo Abou | Scharloo Abou

Teach a man to fish

Art piece by Sander van Beusekom a.k.a Blend - 2016

About the art piece curated by Street Art Skalo
The mural in Scharloo Abou is inspired by the proverb “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” a quote from the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, founder of Taoism. This mural has quite a few meanings and it is in the eye of the beholder to take its own meaning out of it.

Below the artist sums up a few of the meanings that he integrated into this art piece:

By teaching someone skills that person can become more independent and self sustaining.
The father is teaching his son to fish is synonym to; the father figure is taking his role as a role model seriously and is preparing his child for the future by teaching him valuable lessons.
The characters are transparent; so that everybody can identify themselves with it.
The characters also have no facial expressions; so that the viewer can fill it in for themselves, some might imagine a worried look, some a hopeful look or others an exciting look!
The big waves that are forming on the horizon symbolize the obstacles and challenges in life.
The red “piska kora” fish swims against the current into the opposite direction of the other fishes. Meaning it dares to be unique, to stand out and to swim his own path.
The bright sun rays peeking out in the top portray a positive outlook “There is always light on the other end of the tunnel” “stay positive!”

About the artist behind the art piece
What the artist is most passionate about is telling a story through illustrations! He often uses illustrations in his graphic work, it’s his field of expertise in animation collaborations and he dreams about making comic books. Another big dream was making murals, with his murals he wants to beautify the streets of dushi Korsou while inspiring creativity with his art. His style brings a new modern graphic style to the existing local street art scene, blending techniques, styles, color into a visual story with a powerful meaning.

Sander van Beusekom is also one of the initiators of Street Art Skalo and was honoured to also be one of the local artists to make one of the first 3 pieces in 2016. He had been running his media design studio BLEND Creative Imaging from the shared office space in Scharloo Abou for years. He actually parked his car in front of this blank wall on a daily basis, looking up and thinking “what awesome canvas would that be”. But he also noticed all the other potential canvasses in the neighborhood, just like the other street art fanatics in the team and so together they kickstarted Street Art Skalo.

Art made possible by:
Artist fee sponsored by: CTDB
Paint for this mural sponsored by: Keim Verf
To work high up DuraEquipe sponsored the boom lift

Check out more of his work here:
Website: www.blendcuracao.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/BlendCuracao
Instagram: Instagram.com/blendcuracao/

There is more than meets the eye

Art piece by Garrick Marchena - 2016

About the art piece curated by Street Art Skalo
The bird in the sky on the tall corner building on the parking in Bitterstraat is the work of locally famous painter and street artist Garrick Marchena. He painted a Kinini, which is the smallest local bird of prey. A bird that often goes unnoticed, is painted here up close and personal so that it can’t go unnoticed. Every feather is painted in detail and the way she looks you in the eye touches the soul. This mural art piece applies several, what the artist calls, “Trompe de Oeil”. Which can be translated into “a figment of your imagination”, it is like he is trying to fool you. The special effects around the image gives it a 3d effect and it looks like the wall is tearing apart like a piece of paper, the cement blocks also seem real until you are close enough to touch it. It is pretty cute that a little bird decided to build its nest in the nook of the building.. or wait.. is that not real either? For us to know for you to find out...

About the artist behind this art piece
Garrick Marchena was an obvious choice for Street Art Skalo. He is a local street artist and painter with the most street art pieces on the island. He started long ago on his own initiative to make street art as a way of giving back to his beloved island. Slowly people started noticing his work and he really made a name for himself. He now has around 20 art pieces in his name scattered all over the island.

His style of painting is mostly realistic or shall we say hyperrealistic. He seems to have favorite topics to paint about and you could almost see it as a series. To name a few examples: “The eyes on the hills” series, where he paints eyes overlooking the area on hill tops as if saying “You are being watched”. Then there is the “Urban Wings” series where he beautifully portrays children with wings. Interpreted by many as: children are little angels, treat them that way. To help our children ahead, we need to give them wings. A quote from his website “it is a gift to everyone out there, but especially those who dare to dream”. The other series is “birds”, different kinds, but all local birds. He wants to give them extra attention by painting them, so people don’t forget them or learn to respect them and their fragility. It makes people realize that caring for our island's nature is also very important to the existence of these local birds.

Fun fact is that you can actually do a mapped street art tour bringing you to all the places where you can admire his art. Take note, to see everything you probably need the whole day. What makes his street art tour even more awesome is that you can ask him along! Of course that comes with an extra price, but if you are a street art fanatic or art-lover this does give it an extra dimension. You can also buy photographs of his work printed on special high quality paper or order a custom made painting.

Art made possible by:
Artist fee sponsored by (unknown)
Paint for this mural sponsored by: Sherwin Williams
To work high up DuraEquipe sponsored the scissor lift

Check out more of his work here:
Website: www.gmarchena.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/gmarchenaarte
Instagram: Instagram.com/garrickmarchena/

Dikon Chino

Art piece by Robert Rodriguez a.k.a One Man - 2016

About the art piece curated by Street Art Skalo
The topic that this mural touches upon is a controversial one. It has been on the artist's mind for some time already and he saw the Street Art Skalo mural project as an opportunity to make other people think twice about a certain custom and hopefully to change it. The text on the mural is in Papiamentu and says “Dikon chino, dikon no meneer?!” which translates to “Why chino, why not sir”. It relates to how some local people speak in a certain way to people of Chinese descent. Many don’t even notice that it is degrading and disrespectful to treat any person from any other race without manners. His message sure went viral on the island on social media and as well as through shirts and stickers with the same message. The artist, with this mural, managed to spike up islandwide discussions about this topic.

About the artist behind this art piece
Robert Rodriguez in his daily life runs his own media company One Man. His graphic work often involves custom typography. A famous local example is the brand logo of the YDK merchandise. His mural art style is influenced heavily by graffiti and tags. His curiosity about this type of drawings and sketches probably started in his teens, back to when it was the era of skating at Strada. A word or sentence often forms the centerpiece around which a design takes form. Of course he also has different styles, but we notice that it often carries a street vibe.

Art made possible by:
Art fee sponsored by (unknown)
Paint for this mural sponsored by: Antilliaanse Verf Fabriek

Check out more of his work here:
Facebook: Facebook.com/1mantag/
Instagram: Instagram.com/1mantag/

Government Fish

Art piece Roberto Tjon a Meeuw / Tjop Shop - 2016

About the art piece made for GreenKidz & Curaçao Clean Up 2016
This art installation was part of a really cool project of GreenKidz for the Curaçao Clean Up 2016. It is great that GreenKidz opted for Scharloo Abou & Parke Leyba as the favoured location for the art piece that they had in mind. They worked with recycle artist Roberto Meeuw to make this happen. When you now enter the park you are greeted by a big, bold, colorful fish made out of plastic..reused plastic to be precise! You can’t really miss it and the message is also pretty clear: reduce, reuse, recycle!

A little more background info: GreenKidz is an non-profit organization that teaches the youth the importance of taking better care of the environment and to “change the mindset of generations” like their slogan proclaims. This was their contribution to the Curaçao Clean Up of 2016. They brought together 600 kids of 14 elementary schools for this community project. First the kids gathered and sorted tons of trash on 2 locations; Boka St. Joris & Boka Patrick. Afterwards the kids and the trash were brought to Scharloo Abou, to turn trash into treasure. The recycle artist finished his art installation with what they brought and with their help. The result is what is now known as the famous fish in the park.

So you can conclude that this art piece had a far deeper impact on our island that meets the eye. We believe that this is what makes community art projects such a powerful tool. The event supplied participants with a valuable experience, it left them and others with a direct positive impression and to top it all off.. The event has long passed, but the art piece remains to keep on inspiring and spreading the message. The preparations for this project started around the same time as the first 3 art pieces were made during the kick off of Street Art Skalo. In that period, while the 4 artists were making their art simultaneously in the streets of Skalo, there was a great creative buzz and connectivity between the artists as well as visitors. Street Art Skalo is a big advocate of such creative community projects and hopes to be able to facilitate more of that.

About the artist behind this art piece
Roberto Tjon A Meeuw has been making art for a lifetime. Roberto is from Surinam, but has been living in Curaçao for quite some time already. He started out as a painter, making pretty cool eye-catchers, often using black prominent outlines, flowing lines and striking colors. Over the years he became more interested and concerned with the wellbeing of our mother earth, and it was logical to him to start using more and more used artifacts in his life as well as in his art. He found a deep passion in turning trash into treasure. That passion was unfortunately also inspired by the never ending trash he encountered along the coast of our island and also by the way people treat their environment with much disrespect. With his recycled art he hopes to awaken people and to help them see that the way we have been living can’t go on.. the world should evolve into a more conscious world where human beings leave only a tiny footprint behind.

Art made possible by GreenKidz
Art installation was sponsored by: MCB
Materials for this art piece supplied by: Nature & everybodies trash that doesn’t belong there.

Check out more of his work here:
Instagram: Instagram.com/tjop_shop/

3 O’clock Romance

Art piece by Francis Sling - 2017

About the art piece curated by Street Art Skalo
3 O’clock Romance is the title of the art piece on the corner building when entering Scharloo Abou. Street Art Skalo curated the artist to make art on the facade, which was the artist first large scale mural on the island.

About the artist behind this art piece
Francis Sling was still living abroad when making this mural art in Skalo. It was during this time that he made up his mind to come back and stay. While making the mural, Skalo stole a piece of his heart and ever since he has been working on setting up his art gallery “The Art Cave” in the district and even made it his home! The universe has a way of working and now he is actually living in the building on which he made his first large scale mural on the island.

Art made possible by:
Art fee sponsored by Kooyman N.V.
Paint for this mural sponsored by Kooyman
To work high up the scissor lift was sponsored by DuraEquipe

Check out more of his work here:
Facebook: Facebook.com/francissling
Instagram: Instagram.com/francissling/

What makes you you?

Stencil art by Alex da Silva a.k.a Xand - 2017

About the art piece donated to Street Art Skalo
Alex da Silva was from the start a fan of the art initiative in Scharloo Abou. He followed the developments with much enthusiasm on social media. He was a frequent visitor of our island because his partner is here. Upon a next visit he contacted Street Art Skalo to ask if he can support the project by donating some of his art as stencils. He proposed 3 prints of his art series that all touched upon the theme of “Change”, something that seemed very suitable at that time as the district was also in transition sparked by bringing art to the streets. Questions were added to the wall like “What makes you, you?” and “Kiko ta felisidat berdadero?”, which translates to “What is real happiness?” so that the people would stop and think.

About the artist behind this art piece
Xand or Alex da Silva is an artist from Cabo Verde. He studied arts in The Netherlands and Spain and participated in many exhibitions worldwide. In 2012 he was assigned to create a monument in Rotterdam to celebrate 150th anniversary of the abolition of Dutch slavery from the Surinam and Antilles. Together with the artist we placed the stencil art in 2017, a few years later Street Art Skalo received the sad news that the artist had suddenly passed away.

Art made possible by:
Art & Prints sponsored by artist himself

Check out more of his work here:
Facebook: Facebook.com/xanddasilva

Expression Session Wall

Changing art by different creatives or upcoming artists - 2018

Some areas in Scharloo Abou, like on this parking, are dedicated practice walls or walls where artists and creatives are invited to make art if they want. We call it “Expression Session Wall”, this can be in the form of an Expression Session event organised by Street Art Skalo or any creative can also approach Street Art Skalo with a request or proposal. The art on these “expression session” walls are meant to be temporary and can change when new opportunities arise.

Want to create art on this wall, send contact Street Art Skalo to talk about the options.

More information:
Weblink: Scharlooabou.com/street-art-skalo/
Facebook: Facebook.com/streetartskalo
Instagram: Instagram.com/streetartskalo/

The 10 Commandments

Art piece by IBB students guided by artist David Bade - 2017

About the art piece
More info following soon!

About the artists behind this art piece
This peace is not by 1 specific artist, but made by a group of students of the IBB- Instituto Buena Bista, it’s a pre-school for students that want to further their studies in arts. This mural was guided by artist David Bade, who is also one of the initiators of IBB. You can see his style reflected in the mural as well as that of the students. A collaborative work of art.

Check out more about IBB here:
Website: www.institutobuenabista.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/institutobuenabista
Instagram: Instagram.com/ibbcuracao