Bezt and Sainer are two artists with two different styles, but together they form the street duo known as Etam Cru. Their street-art creating huge scenes of colourful and sometimes comical murals that any street would be lucky to have.
The style of Etam Cru being best summarised as – life has colour, so why not use it – and they sure have, their pieces humming with energy, with their illustrative appeal being as home on the wall as in any graphic novel; having at times the look of a highly-stylish anime. Their large scale murals are frequently accompanied by a bird, whether it’s a robin to a canary etc, with the images being surrealistically trippy and typically having a social commentary or mythical inclusion. Etam Cru’s themes are diverse, with the stories being distinctive and…clearish, for I’m not quite sure I’m in on all the jokes or social-commentary, with the graffiti images varying from being direct in their message, to ones too subtle for me, but I know they’re there!
The Other Side of the Game, 2012, Acrylics on Canvas by Sainer. Etam Cru
A prime example would be the wall mural Traphouse (2012) which shows a pile of food waiting to be taken – its strong use of colours making it a focal point, while its vibrancy hints at its secret toxicity, with the legs of a chair even melting within it. Above this food is a hollow house that’s beyond being dilapidated; the wooden walls are peeling, the glass is gone, the windows shuttered, but there has been life, or still is, with a washing line full of rags suggesting as much. The image’s main point however is highlighted by its name; “Traphouse” – the food in the image being the bait in which to entice someone, while a thin stick props the house up, but there’s a rope attached to the stick and with one pull the house will fall down trapping its prey. The holder of this rope is deliberately framed to be just outside of the image – meaning they’re faceless; an institution, a society, but they’re ready to pull the rope and ensnare you. This mural tells of economic issues and of the promise of one thing but the delivery of something far worse; a poverty you’ll struggle to escape from, and as with all of Etam Cru’s work its impactful.
In looking at the artists’ individual works; Bezt’s images have so many different features to them. From comedy, turmoil, and two-dimensional art with flavours of Mexican inspiration, to three-dimensional depths of human emotion, the images dark in their conveyance of meanings – Hamadryada, 2010. In contrast to this, Sainer uses a lighter palette of colours, the images seem happy, inviting even, but it’s a deception, for look closely and there’s a knife tucked away, a hand held back by a string, to skulls picked up like sugar cubes – The other side of the game 2012, while on top of the candy-coloured hair is a raven, which in lore is a harbinger of death. Sainer’s art is intoxicating, but to stay is dangerous.
Hamadryada, 2010, Oil on canvas by Bezt. Etam Cru
The individual artists of Etam Cru have their own unique voices in their artwork, but the murals they do together are so seamless that it’s impossible to say who did what, or who came up with which idea – the partnership being a total balance.
