While many street artists choose abandoned buildings and old train tracks as the canvases for their explosive masterpieces, Dutch street artist Jan Is De Man chooses to go another route – by realizing lively works for local communities who want to connect. His aim is to create projects ‘where everyone can identify themselves’ by asking for the involvement of the residents’ who commission him. Jan Is De Man’s most recent gift to a neighborhood – a whimsical tri-level trompe l’oeil mural bookcase on an apartment building in Utrecht, Netherlands. The artist was aided by fellow street artist Deef Feed who, he told Bored Panda, had worked on a few other murals with him and is the co-owner of their tattoo shop “Blackbook Tattoos” in the center of Utrecht.
The location for the mural came before the concept said Jan Is De Man, “I know the people who live on the ground floor very well. They’ve wanted a mural by my hand for a while. They also wanted to let me feel free in my design as long as it would bring something positive to their neighborhood. The first idea was to paint a smiley. A very big smiley. Because I believe people become more happy when they see a smiley every day. But this idea didn’t feel complete, it felt too simple.”