Aberdeen-born artist Katie Guthrie has officially kicked off this year’s celebration of street art: Nuart.
Katie, also known by her art name KMG, is the first creative to start transforming the grey city walls of Aberdeen into vibrant works of art as part of this year’s Nuart festival.
She has begun creating a large-scale artwork on Palmerston Road, behind Union Square.
Exploring Re-Connect, the theme of this year’s Nuart, Katie said she will be touching on memories she has of growing up in Aberdeen and “visual aspects of the city some people may or may not remember”.
She added: “I really want to create something special, that does the city proud and is special to Aberdeen, both for me and the city itself.”
Katie, who graduated from Aberdeen’s Gray’s School of Art in 2006 and is now based in Edinburgh, previously worked as an artist’s assistant at the prestigious and award-winning festival.
Katie’s work – often described as subversive and sarcastic but also playful – can already be seen in Aberdeen, with the artist having been part of the Painted Doors project and creating art around the Tunnels and the Green.
Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, which is behind the event, said: “Katie’s success is testament to the impact Nuart Aberdeen has had on encouraging home-grown talent and inspiring future generations to explore the culture and express their creativity.”
Nuart Aberdeen, which has been running since 2017, is now officially back and once again curated and produced by Stavanger-based arts organisation Nuart.
A number of other “blank canvases” have already been revealed for this year’s street art event.
Other walls to be painted include two at the Unite Students building in Spring Gardens, then one each at the Aberdeen Community Health and Care Village on Frederick Street, and The Meridian on Union Row.
So far, only two other artists have been revealed as participants in the festival.
Mural painter Helen Bur, who created Nuart pieces in 2019, will also return for this year’s event.
And London-based Fanakapan, who creates hyper-realistic visuals of objects such as helium balloons, will also produce a stunning Nuart piece.
It is not yet known which wall the artists will work on or when they will start creating their murals, but this will be revealed in the coming days or weeks.
Stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, discover past Nuart artworks with our interactive map.
