Face of Flanders: ROA
ROA is one those artists whose works are now more valuable than the property they were once considered to be vandalising
Flemish Banksy
Nobody will regret the passing of the long-abandoned factory for a second, so long as the paintings it contains, about 50 of them, are saved.
For years, the deserted factory has been a sort of atelier for the anonymous street artist known as ROA, who specialises in animals, usually dead or rapidly heading that way. ROA is one of the generation of artists whose works are now more valuable than the property they were once considered to be vandalising.
The pope of this movement may still be Banksy, but ROA is close on his heels. ROA began in the 1980s, and his work can now be seen around the world – from New York to Brazil, from Australia to Canada – both commissioned and not.
He’s even collaborated with U2 on the animated video for the group’s single “Sleep Like a Baby Tonight” – a complete diversion from his trademark animal imagery.
Most of ROA’s works are monumental, taking up the whole or most of the side of a building, such as the banded anteater on a building in Fremantle, Australia, hanging animals in Berlin or the rat in Mechelen. Like Banksy, it’s amazing he’s continued to remain anonymous – and uncaught by the police. The works are mainly in black and white, but must still have taken hours to complete.
According to experts, ROA’s many works in the Malmar site (a few pictured) are priceless, which makes it vital for them to be saved. They will probably be integrated as decoration into the new project.
“It’s nice that the city wants to save his work, but I don’t think ROA would lose any sleep” if they disappeared, Bjorn Van Poucke of Street Art Belgium told De Morgen. “The works date back to 2009, and in street art terms that’s an eternity.” The actual value of the works, he said, is “impossible to estimate.”
Photo courtesy Gentblogt
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