MEET OLA & ROBIN

  

ALEXANDER SALAZAR FINE ART : ARTIST IN RESIDENCE PROJECT EXHIBITION : January 12 : 2012 WHITE BOX CONTEMPORARY : 1040 Seventh Avenue : San Diego : 92101 : 619.531.8996

OLA Kalnins : ROBBIN Carlzon
swedish street writers~
There are few things Sweden is known for besides… meatballs, Ikea, and blonde hair, but if you look a little closer you may find a few hidden gems. Influenced by the Golden Era of Hip Hop, graffiti found its way to the streets of Sweden giving the youth a new outlet for expression and also giving birth to the artistic futures of both Ola and Robbin.

Born in the city of Malmo, Ola Kalnins began cultivating his craft at the age of 13 spray painting the tunnels, rooftops, and walls of industrial areas located just off the train tracks. On this street playground he slowly developed his unique style of abstract lettering and skillful precision with lines. Inspired by a mixed passion for music, film, art, people and just life itself along with a curiosity for foreign landscapes, the subways of Sweden soon served as the perfect canvas. Journeys through the Scandinavia train system began exposing Ola’s work to wider audiences catching the attention of another talented street writer from the south–Robin.

Born in the small town of Lund located in the southern part of Sweden, Robbin Carlzon grew up yearning to escape the surroundings in which he strongly felt he didn’t belong, and at a very young age found a way out inside a pencil. Captivated by the imaginations of French cartoonist, comic book artist, and graffiti writers, Robbin’s love for drawing characters developed and would eventually mature leaving the paper to find the streets where he and Ola would first collaborate.

Together Robbin and Ola, age 15 and 16, would compliment each others styles well. Ola’s masterful lettering alongside Robbin’s unique characters gave life to one of the most infamous crews, gaining notoriety for aggressively spreading street poetry across Europe’s subway system. They would spend their teenage years adventuring through the architecture of several countries. Whether it was climbing the rooftop of a train station in Naples to find a place to sleep, or hanging off the side of subway cars in Denmark just to capture a single photo, and dangerously surfing the tops of trains wedged between the roof of the subway tunnel to escape security in Paris, they risked everything for their art–devoted spirits. As life moved forward the two would grow up and take many steps in their creative paths both together and separately. Ola’s talented lettering and abstract expression would develop further and later land him prominent work among brands like Diesel, Adidas, and Carhartt. He would soon open his own artist studio in Malmo which for 7 years brought together artists from around the world. Meanwhile, Robbin’s characters evolved back onto the traditional canvas as two years of art school instilled technique in his work. Distinctly drawing inspiration for shading and light from the Renaissance era while maintaining his true style Robbin traveled to the remote areas of Thailand, India, and Burma to share pure imagination. An imagination that depicts beauty, darkness, and romance in a twisted harmony.

True to their roots the two still maintain a presence in the streets of Europe continuing their adventures as they fight to express a voice that is free without compromise for authority, which needless to say has placed them behind bars together in their past. Today, they share a studio and gallery in Malmo called Konstwerk with a few other Swedish artists and mutual friends. From this studio to the U.S. after 15 years of journeying through life’s ups and downs they have collaborated to exhibit the love, pain, and passion cultivated in the streets and matured for the gallery–take a journey. –JOSEF (2011)

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