Draft:Nomad Clan

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Nomad Clan, compromising of Cbloxx and AYLO, are a queer street artist duo from Manchester.[1], best known for their large murals including the tallest in the UK - Athena Rising, Leeds[2]. Urban Nation describe their style as "mythical" with a dose of "dark melancholy" [3]. Their work tends to focus on the communities and environments they are situated in, which are predominantly known as working class areas. Speaking to Rockpoint Leisure following the painting of a mural in New Brighton, Cbloxx says that they like to “celebrate” often forgotten or lost places[4]

Social Themes[edit]

Each of Nomad Clan's mural's have great significance to the environment in which they sit in. The main focus of their work is to celebrate local history, whilst also subtly challenging social issues of the area. "The pair are on a quest to raise awareness for varying social justice issues, environmental concerns and more."[5] Black Diamond is one particular example of their work celebrating an area's heritage while also raising socio-economic concerns.

Nomad Clan are ultimately providing a platform for communities to engage with their cultural heritage and help people to construct their own too. “The beauty about public art is that it's there and accessible for anybody” says Cbloxx.[4]

Notable Projects[edit]

Athena Rising[edit]

Stood at 137ft, 'Athena Rising' is the tallest mural in the UK. The piece is painted on the full length of the Bruntwood's Platform building at Leeds Train Station and is visible from the platform and beyond.[6] Centred on an owl in flight, the mural makes a nod to the Leeds coat of arms and ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, Athena.

Athena Rising was part of a citywide street art project 'A City Less Grey', initiated by East Street Arts and funded by Leeds Business Improvement District.[2] The project aimed to inject colour into key sites around the city and to enhance the look and feel for residents, commuters and visitors alike.[6]

Bare Bones[edit]

'Bare Bones' is a series of pieces that focuses on the Salton Sea, California. Once a large tourist attraction, the popular oasis in southern California became more highly concentrated with salt due to agricultural run-off of fertilisers and increasing temperatures, evaporating the water. These conditions caused large fish-kills and thus also eradicated a lot of avian wildlife.[7]

Nomad Clan visited the Salton Sea, most specifically Bombay Beach, as their final destination on their 2018 USA mural tour. Upon visiting, they left a painting of a fish skeleton on an abandoned boat. Per their website, Nomad Clan talk about their experiences in Southern California, "...time and time again across the desert lands of SoCal (Southern California), we experienced abandonment and collapse of towns and communities... there is a distinct and peaceful ambience in these places which really lets your creative mind wonder."[8]

Their work on Bombay Beach has been adapted into prints and has been used as part of a series for Northern Monk Brewery.[9]

Black Diamond[edit]

'Black Diamond', Gateshead - addresses the collapse of the coal mining industry in the North East of England in the 1980's. Around 193,000 miners lost their jobs and communities were destroyed.[10] Strategies imposed by the conservative government at the time contributed to a significant social and economic divide between the North East and the rest of the UK - in particular London and the south.[11] According to the UK 2021 Census, the North East has the highest proportion of people that are in "lower grade occupations" or long term employment, with 27.3%.[12]

Nomad Clan also took accounts of miners stories in their occupations, specifically the use of canaries to warn them of toxic gases. Miners often befriended their canaries and would carry around tiny canisters of oxygen in case the bird needed to be revived.[10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Nomad Clan, Manchester street artists". nomad-clan-muralists. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  2. ^ a b "Nomad Clan Complete the Tallest Mural in the UK for 'A City Less Grey'!". East Street Arts. 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  3. ^ "Nomad Clan". Urban Nation. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  4. ^ a b An Interview with street artists Nomad Clan, retrieved 2023-11-21
  5. ^ "Nomad Clan: Amnesty Collective". www.amnesty.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  6. ^ a b "UK's tallest mural set to hit Leeds city skyline". Bruntwood. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  7. ^ Iovenko, Chris (2015-11-09). "California's Largest Lake Is Now a Public-Health Threat". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  8. ^ "Bare Bones". nomad-clan-muralists. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  9. ^ "NOMAD CLAN". Northern Monk. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  10. ^ a b "'Black Diamond'". nomad-clan-muralists. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  11. ^ Tomaney, J. (2003). "Politics, institutions and the decline of coal mining in North East England". Mining Technology. 112 (1): 40–46. doi:10.1179/037178403225011051. ISSN 1474-9009. S2CID 154711612.
  12. ^ "Approximated Social Grade, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 2023-12-12.

Bibliography[edit]

Macdonald N. (2001), The Graffiti Subculture: Youth, Masculinity and Identity in London and New York, Basingstoke, Palgrave

Pater R. (2016), The Politics of Design: A (Not So) Global Design Manual For Visual Communication, London, Lawrence King Publishing

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