A new mural has been painted in the Marijin Dvor neighborhood of Sarajevo, and it is located on one of the buildings in Kranjčevićeva street. It was painted by the famous street artist Lady Aiko, who arrived in Sarajevo all the way from the USA.
The mural was created as a desire of David Levine and Meli Salihagić, the owners of the NYC Bagel restaurant, who wanted to refresh the building where their establishment is located.
They then decided to contact the already well-known Sarajevo street artist Benjamin Čengić, after which they came up with the idea of writing a grant through which they would bring one of the American artists to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The painting of the mural was financed by the US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In this regard, we contacted Čengić, who revealed more details.
“Since I have friends, acquaintances and associates all over the world, including in the USA, I suggested that this person be an artist of Japanese origin, who has been living in New York for the last 20 years. Her artistic name is Lady Aiko,” said Čengić.
We are talking about Aiko Nakagawa – one of the first artists who started dealing with street art in New York, but also an artist who collaborated with the world’s most famous street art names such as Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Invader and others.
“She is a very important artist and is more important for her work, than through socializing and acquaintances with other artists. She is one of the most active and significant street artists in the USA. Because of our friendship, she agreed to the invitation to come to Bosnia and Herzegovina, paint that small mural and use the opportunity to spend some time together,” he revealed.
Čengić points out that he did not participate in the painting itself, but made sure that Lady Aiko did not miss anything during her stay in Sarajevo.
Lady Aiko is known worldwide for her special artistic expression, where she combines different techniques. One of the symbols by which her artistic work is recognizable is precisely the rabbit, which she also painted in Sarajevo.
“That rabbit represents her as an artist and as a person, that is, a symbol that she made through templates and depicts in her artwork. Her style is closely related to Japanese culture, it is actually a combination of Japanese stylistic expression and contemporary aesthetics”, said Čengić.
Source: klix.ba
