It was 2018, the second year of the Nuart Aberdeen street art festival, when I discovered the wonderful artworks lighting up some dull corners of my home city. ‘A Revolution of the Ordinary’ was the festival theme for 2018 (12-15 April). This mural by Phlegm was one of the first that I spotted in my old neighbourhood.
Union Street at Holburn Junction
This mural was inspired by the history of granite mining in Aberdeen. Granite is traditionally the local building material for the city, giving it the nickname of The Granite City (also The Silver City). It’s a protected building material. The Nuart Aberdeen street artworks can only be applied to non-granite walls – typically gable end and concrete walls. This one took three days to complete.
the artist
Phlegm is a Sheffield-based artist whose large-scale mural works have appeared internationally. He has works situated across England and in Belgium, USA, Iceland, Canada, Morocco, Italy, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Spain, Australia, Poland and Norway.
His surreal illustrations create a fantasy world with a strong hint of dystopia. The artist began working with self-published comics and he works in monochrome to achieve this signature style.
“I’m interested in cycles of decay with monuments and buildings. Nature can often envelop structures over and over again through time. Wars, gentrification, political changes and fashions can mean buildings can drift in and out of times of care and disrepair. I often like to think about my murals being a brief flourish in the life of a building. A moment of energy in an often dead space.”
from the artist’s blog
Phlegm also draws in pen and ink and makes prints of his illustrations. Check out his Instagram @phlegm_art to see some amazing work on the theme of the pandemic during lockdown.
He has a recent book Mausoleum of the Giants based on his Sheffield project – find out more
