Australian street artist Fintan Magee, who has been dubbed the “Australian Banksy” for his popular street art murals, has been busy in Belgium, creating a striking optical illusion on a stack of shipping crates.
The piece, titled Moving the Pointless Monument, has an optimal viewing angle in which the crates and the surrounding landscape align perfectly—from anywhere else, it’s somewhat of a distorted mess.
Fintan Magee, Carrying the Pointless monument (2015), at North West Walls, Werchter, Belgium.
Photo: Fintan Magee.
The large-scale painting depicts a young man hunched over to carry the pointless monument, which seems to be a sort of strange rock formation set against a blue sky. The background on which the man stands blends seamlessly into its environs, mimicking the building and trees behind the massive crates via trompe l’oeil.
Despite the “Australian Banksy” moniker, Magee’s large-scale works, at once both whimsical and realistic, have a character all their own. His use of bright colors and his gentle humor stands apart from Banksy’s minimalist color palate and politically-charged subject matter.
Street artists at work North West Walls, Werchter, Belgium.
Photo: North West Walls.
Magee created his newest piece as part of the North West Walls public art program, founded in 2014. Each summer, curator Arne Quinze enlists street artists to create installations on stacks of shipping containers in Festival Park for the Rock Werchter music festival in Werchter, Belgium.
“We’re sad to let five massive masterpieces go, but we’re very excited to get a whole new North West Walls chapter instead!” North West Walls posted on its Facebook page last month.
Smug One, (2015), at North West Walls, Werchter, Belgium.
Photo: Smug One.
The international slate of 2015 participants also include Austria’s Nychos, Spain’s Lula, Italy’s Pixel Pancho, the US’s Gamma Acosta, and SmugOne of Australia and Scotland.
Street artist Nychos at work North West Walls, Werchter, Belgium.
Photo: North West Walls.