Julian Beever

Artists are always seeking for innovative ways of crafting and capturing their visual audience. One such person is Julian Beever who brings pleasure and awe through his astonishing pavement chalk drawings. Beever, a British artist who is now based in Belgium has been making his transient and unique masterworks around the world since the mid-‘90s.

An immersing writer, Beever started his career on the streets as a puppeteer and juggler, and only eventually became a pavement artist as “they could move from place to place with only a box of chalk”. At the start of career as a pavement artist, he created the more conventional two-dimensional portraits on shopping streets in London and Europe, before eventually developing his anamorphosis technique to create three-dimensional street art. This enabled him to develop the skills to better use pastels before endeavoring the more ambitious and innovative three-dimensional illusions that were to follow.

Beever’s ‘trompe l’oeil’ (which is French for trick or deceive of the eye) pavement pieces are prodigious. The effect is so convincing that passersby will swerve to avoid potholes he drew on the sidewalk. However this effect is only achieved only by viewing from a particular viewpoint, if the viewer deviates from this point the art piece loses its illusion effect and the drawing becomes an incongruous distortion. The enigma Beever uses is to set up a camera on a tripod (which is kept on one spot) as his third eye and check to give the precise perspective as he fleshes out the color drawing on the pavement. the full effect of his art is only truly appreciated when the viewer beholds through the wide angle lens on his camera.

This is one reason why Beever photographs his paintings after completion. The photographs of his immense art pieces leap off the page, creating a whimsical wonderland of gaping chasms, superheroes, giant insects and animals. Each of his paintings grants passersby an opportunity to step into the worlds of these artworks- one can sit on top of a massive pint of bear, raft down a stream or even balance on the headstock of a giant guitar. Beever’s unbridled humor and mastery are fully exhibited in these dazzling paintings that transmute sidewalks into fabulous three-dimensional public-space panoramas. He apprehends the psychology of incongruent strangers and gathers them into a collective audience by presenting humourous and mind-blowing art. In addition to the performance aspect of his works, Beever often elevates his astute work by placing himself as a prop-becoming an active constituent in the photographs of many of his final pieces, for example lending a hand to a man falling off an edge. This element of fun differentiates Beever from other ‘trompe l’oeil’ artists and enables him to gain tremendous browse appeal hence attracting a wide audience.

Want to know more about Beever and how its done? Take a look at this video!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lifHsry-Wws