K’ Road Art Trail Expands

Image: Laura Forest

The vibrancy and colour of K’ Road’s outdoor art offering is about to increase as the precinct gears up for its second All Fresco festival.  The twelve large-scale artworks which were realised at last year’s three-day street art event, sponsored by K’ Road Business Association, are about to be augmented with nine new works over the weekend beginning Friday 2 May.  “It was always the plan to do another one and make it an ongoing event,” says curator Ross Liew.

Nine artists from areas across Auckland, Tauranga and Wellington will be gathering on K’ Road to execute their visual interpretations of this much-loved street.  And while each will bring their individual style to their work, they will all be encouraged to consider the history and stories behind their allocated walls in their creative efforts.  “We want them to respond to the area and address some of the things which are specific to this community,” says Ross.

The proven skill and experience of artists has been a big factor in selecting participants, he says, “because it’s not particularly easy working large scale and outside.  If you look at the first All Fresco, it rained for the full three days and, if you haven’t dealt with that before, it’s probably not the best place to be dealing with it for the first time.”

Onlookers can expect to see work from artists such as Mt Maunganui’s Owen Dippie, a traditional portraiture-style outdoor artist, Auckland’s Tania Jade, (formerly Misery) known for her doe-eyed manga-inspired figures and Wellington’s BMD duo, who display a penchant for depicting large format animals, not always in one piece.   And the three-day timeframe they will be working to offers spectators a rare glimpse into the underlying process each employs.  

“There’s a bit of mystery in how large art is created and if you’re interested in the ‘how’ of an artist’s work method, All Fresco is like having an open studio,” says Ross.   He’s excited about seeing new walls added to what has now become K’ Road’s Street Art Tour circuit and, in particular, by the potential inclusion of the wall on the side of the reservoir on the corner of Ponsonby and K’ Roads because of its importance as a gateway from one neighbourhood to another.

But even as the K’ Road Street Art Tour expands with each new All Fresco, its curator is aware that street art is a temporary art form.  “We don’t consider any of these artworks to be permanent.  The lifespan of some might be a short as one year.  I think a really quite important part of the nature of this is that it’s temporary and it’s updated and it’s ongoing.  It’s really just about enhancing the environment and providing food for thought.”

All Fresco will kick off with an exhibition of participating artist’s studio-based work on Thursday night in conjunction with K’ Road’s late night art event First Thursdays.  Artists will then be ensconced at their designated sites in and around K’ Road from Friday 2^nd through to Sunday 4^th May.  For more information on wall locations and updates on events as they unfold visit www.allfresco.co.nz