Lj’s Weblog

Originating from an enormous fascination for the hiphop culture, he came into contact with graffiti in the early nineties. Initially, he only expressed his urges illegally, without added artistic intentions. Around 2002, he became more serious about developing pieces. After a period of endless sketching and try-outs, he finally bombed the walls in and surrounding Leeuwarden with a new name. This time around, it was predominantly legal work. It was during this time that he got acquainted with (local) writers, such as Clyde, T-Bag and Retro. This crew took him in and helped him with his development as a graffiti artist, without limiting him in his artistic preferences. Until this day, they are still working together on legal walls and assignments.

In addition to graffiti, LJvanT is developing his skills as an autonomous artist to the fullest. In 2006, he complete changed his course. He sold his house and quit his job to take up a full time study at Minerva, Acedemy of Fine Arts in Groningen. Partly because of this change, his artistic vision has expanded tremendously, which resulted in an enormous diversity of work. His academic training has greatly contributed to the development of this conceptual work which, in one way or another, is based on the personal perception of reality.

He is one of the few, if not the only, graffiti artist who allows his work to go deeper into the appearance of graffiti in public spaces without falling back on ‘fixed forms’, which are so typical of graffiti. In this type of work, the emphasis does not lie on graffiti itself, but especially on its carrier (wall, train, powerhouse, etc.). As a result, the beholder is challenged to critically observe the space in which for example graffiti occurs.