Wicked opportunity to be along side OMEN, a great artist and friend, at the silo in Vankleek Hill ON – part of the Popsilos project 2017.
Murals will be painted on a series of silos in Prescott-Russell. A committee that includes representatives from the tourism industry, agricultural community, the St-Albert Cheese Co-operative, the United Counties of Prescott-Russell and Popsilos co-producers Activar and A’Shop, selected the 5 winning silos among 10. This project is being funded by a $150,000 Canada 150 grant.
OMEN was chosen to complete the silo at The Vankleek Hill Vineyard at 3725 County Road 12 in Vankleek Hill (Hawkesbury East). OMEN will be painting a mural themed “Diversity”.
Marty Kral, owner of the organic winery – Vankleek Hill Vineyard said, “I think Popsilos is very cool and I am happy to be a part of it. It is a wonderful opportunity to share art and culture with those who make up our community at large.”
Marty and Laurie Kral bought farmland in 1991. Their property is a natural habitat that invites eagles, hawks and all types of birds to call it their home. Being an organic winery, an important thing for Marty in creating an ecosystem is for it to create the perfect natural chain that keeps his crop of grapes free from predators. He has snakes and rats and such that are all part of it. He even planted milkweed, which fosters a habitat for the endangered Monarch butterfly species who eat it and who need it for laying their eggs. This milkweed is also a great for pollinators such as bees. Marty and Laurie have a bee yard to call their own and they make their own honey.
They’ve created an absolute oasis of relaxation at the vineyard where you can have a drink of wine outside on their terrace and discover local cheese. They grow colder climate grapes such as Frontenac (red), Frontenac gris (white) and Servengy (red) and do everything from crushing to bottling their organic wines in-house.
Since the late 90′s, OMEN has been blurring the boundaries between graffiti and street art with his singular style of painting, both on and off the streets. Using spray cans as his primary medium, he has been leading the aerosol movement towards a truce with the established art world.
OMEN’s style is immediately recognizable, often cast in stark black and white his murals and canvases have a haunted quality about them. His use of negative space and ephemeral but controlled lines allows one to enter his paintings in a way that few street artists offer their viewers.
OMEN says, “as long as I’m painting with aerosol I hope that I can inspire a younger generation of artists to use the medium to push artistic boundaries and express themselves.”