GEORGE TOWN, Oct 27 — Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic, known for beautifying Malaysian streetscapes, has announced the release of limited edition prints of his iconic murals.
The 38-year-old who recently returned to Penang to restore the faded murals said he decided to “immortalize” them himself after spotting “bootleg versions” on sale at souvenir shops in the city here.
“For the first time, these artworks that shaped my career and life will be available as limited edition prints, made to live on long after the streets change again,” he said in a Facebook post.
Zacharevic has long resisted turning his street art into merchandise, saying they should be experienced in their original locations just as he did as a first time visitor 12 years ago.
But on his most recent trip back, he noted the shifting landscape of the city.
“Seeing how challenging the restoration was, I decided to immortalize the murals as they are today — capturing how I see them now before time fades them again,” he said.
The prints are now available on his website.
Zacharevic was also able to reunite with the models of his murals during his most recent trip in Penang, among them the Tan siblings featured in Children On A Bicycle on Lebuh Armenian, and Mohammad Shahrul Aiman Mohamed in Boy On A Bike on Lebuh Ah Quee.
The Straits Times today reported Tan Yi, now aged 17, remembering her family’s first meeting with Zacharevic in 2012 on an outing with a group of urban sketchers at the Goddess of Mercy temple at Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling.
Yi was five years old back then, and her brother Kern, just three. The sister and brother recalled seeing a red-coloured, adult-sized bicycle and being enamoured with it, and that Zacharevic had taken a candid photograph of them.
“We saw the bicycle and thought it was fun to climb onto it. I vaguely remember thinking how we could ride it, and whether we could go fast on it. We were playing and laughing,” Yi was quoted as saying.
Their father, Adrian Tan told The Straits Times that Zacharevic approached him for permission to include the children in his series of murals on the streets of Penang.
“I said ‘why not’. It resonates with all of us – this pure innocence, which is why the mural is so popular with people,” the father was quoted as saying.
Mohammad Shahrul Aiman Mohamed is the model for the Boy On A Bike mural on Lebuh Ah Quee in George Town, Penang. — Picture from Facebook/Ernest Zacharevic
Mohammad Shahrul, now 23, told the Singapore newspaper that his first encounter with the artist was at age 11 while he was learning to play with a yo-yo outside his house.
“There was a motorbike next to the wall on the street. I put on the helmet, got on the bike and he took a picture,” he was quoted as saying.
Now working as tourist guide, Mohammad Shahrul said he often takes visitors to the mural in which he is featured.
“They’ll get excited and want to take my picture with the mural. Some told me that my face remains the same, and there are those who will buy souvenirs and ask me to sign on the items,” he added.