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Location: Rotterdam Painted by: Oles Signed and numbered by the artist ‘Oles Lastplak’. Printed in hand by the artist. The screen is positioned deliberately off by a few mm’s to give it a bit of a shaky look. Limited Edition of 50. Two color (wasabi and indigo) silk screen print. Size A2, 42 x 59 cm approx.
Lastplak is a group of eleven painters with different backgrounds and diverse skills. Their goal is to paint, no matter what surface, size or location. Their work can be found all over the world, but the Lastplak home base is Rotterdam (Holland), so that is where most of there stuff can be seen. Lastplak is: Oles, Boortorrie, Sake, Acab, Grrt, Pinwin, Ox-Alien, Ces53, Yen, Mayb and Sterf. The word ‘Lastplak’ is sort of a play on words in the Dutch language. It is a combination of the old-fashioned word “lastpak” (an annoying person or a pain in the ass) and the word ‘plak’ (from ‘plakken’, which means to stick or paste). Combining these words would mean something along the lines of an annoying sticker. Also it can mean an irritating person who puts up stickers or disturbing messages spread using the sticker as medium to do this. Lastplak started in 2000 as a one man project, which through the years grew to the current collective of about 10 artists with different roots in graffiti, design and street art. They all operate individually and as a collective on murals, pieces, stencils, posters, stickers, paintings and so on. Participating artists have their own specific characters, styles, inspirations and themes that are all put together in a melting pot. Everybody Lastplak artist interacts with each other’s work; usually without a sketch. Lastplak has many activities in the public domain. Besides stickers, paste ups and other mediums, they initiated several large wall paintings and projects in the streets of Rotterdam, mostly spontaneously, self initiated and independent, playing the city’s laws and procedures a bit. Besides this they also do commissions and other paid projects, as long as they like the idea and can paint what they want. If there is a profit, it is mainly used to fund their independent projects… or to get some more beers. Projects vary from painting shop shutters, trucks and vans, several murals, a 700 m2 wall, a church, and an entire street. They also carry out exhibitions, live paint sessions at festivals, events, parties and underground squatter parties. They also create artwork in ‘hip’ dance clubs, most of which they would normally would be refused entrance to. Often during these events other related artists are invited to join in. Frequently there are other guest appearances, collaborations and activities, as long as it is fun and everyone has good time. Since the collective started painting more on canvas, there have been several exhibitions in different galleries in Rotterdam, other cities of the Netherlands and also abroad.