Classically trained as a painter and with a degree in fine art, Lithuanian-born artist Ernest Zacharevic describes himself as “a fine artist who prefers to work on the street.” Focusing mostly on portraits and inspired by the ambience and environment around the site he paints, Zacharevic takes a playful approach to painting.
The large child climbing up Union Plaza was painted by Lithuanian artists Ernest Zacharevic. Ernest is a well known figure in the international street art scene and has participated in numerous projects. His work extends across many platforms and not just fine painting or muralism. For Splash & Burn Ernest worked with farmers in Asia to cut down palm trees to create an SOS message in the middle of the jungle. When seen from above, the trees spell out SOS. Although raising awareness of the dangers and unsustainable nature of the palm oil business, this intervention hoped to start a dialogue both between the palm oil farmers, local government and environmental agencies in the hopes of generating meaningful discussion around the issue and finding a solution that worked for all parties.
Ernest feels strongly about many issues and always tries to find the best way to get his message across to the viewer, whether its painting, sculpture or interventions.
For his Aberdeen mural he decided to create a moment of interaction between a small child (5 stories tall) and a rather stark piece of modern architecture. The painting was initially sketched out before Ernest started to fill in the details. The end result is a giant small child using the existing architecture to reach up, interacting with the building but also making it feel more human. It's been a real stand out piece for Nuart Aberdeen both in the scale of its ambition but also in its location. Union Plaza is actually the home to two of our 2018 presenting partners Burness Paull and Aberdeen Standard Investments who are passionate and engaged stakeholders in the future of Aberdeen and we were delighted to have their support for the festival in 2018.
Ernest Zacharevic
