the street is our gallery

The renowned British street artist Xenz has created a fitting tribute to Norway´s oldest allotment gardens in the capital, Oslo.

Originally built as a retreat for the inner-city working class in 1907, Rodeløkka gardens today contains 151 summer cabins and associated plots, each overflowing with colorful plants and wildlife.

Several of Xenz’s latest works have been made under the title ´The Secret Garden´, and that´s precisely why it was natural for Street Art Oslo to bring in the experienced artist for this assignment on the neighbouring plot to the gardens.

Commissioned by the local resident’s association, the wall is the first of four projects that Xenz is undertaking during a month-long stay in the Norwegian capital that includes projects in neighbouring town Sandvika as well as a commission for Swedish-owned construction company Skanska.

The day before the painting went up on the wall, Xenz and James Finucane from Street Art Oslo were given a tour of the gardens together with board chair Kari-Anne Ingesin Stenberg.

“Xenz was the obvious choice for this wall but the similarity between his latest paintings and the surrounding environment is really quite remarkable. This is one of the many reasons why I´m so happy to be able to bring him to Oslo for this project” says Finucane.

“There are so many things I want to say about these images but what I realise is my art isn´t about words, it´s about the place. It has become about blending in, not standing out.”
– Xenz

Xenz (Graeme Brusby, b. 1974) is a graduate of Edinburgh College of Art and has worked as an artist for over 20 years. He started painting graffiti at just 14-years-old, inside the derelict warehouses of Hull, England. Gradually, he has developed a completely distinctive and experimental style, where he uses spray cans to paint landscapes inhabited by birds and butterflies. He has lived in Bristol where he painted alongside members of the renowned graffiti crew TCF, as well as artists such as Banksy and Inkie. He has also participated in exhibitions in the United Kingdom, Miami, New York, Basel, Ibiza, New Delhi and Sydney. For the past year and a half he has been living in Rome.

www.xenz.org / @xenzogram
www.streetartoslo.no / @street_art_oslo