21 June 2021

Curator of the Street Art Passage at MQ Vienna Sebastian Schager aka Artis.Love applied street art graphics on invitation of Ikea on selected furniture pieces

Until 4 July five pieces of the range by Artis.Love X Ikea can be won via ikea.at/kunst by submitting the information where the selected art-furniture item will be placed at home! The project has a political core which grows constantly due to the challenges today's society faces.

The artist of the project is Vienna-born Sebastian Schager who publishes at artis.love/about-ail/ information about his activities like his curatorial work for the 'Street Art Passage' at MuseumsQuartier Vienna and his approach to communicate with graphical art in public places or by applying art on fashion pieces like Louis Vuitton travel bags. His observations of today's society are mediated by a language consisting of symbols and ikons placed in a meaning-giving grammar-like contextual structure. "It's all about trying to read between the lines in global language made of symbols and Ikons one has to create their own grammar for."

Image: The range of Artis.Love X Ikea, presented in June 2021. Photo: © Thomas Unterberger / © IKEA.
Video (below): Sebastian Schager introduces into the making of the graffiti work for the selected Ikea range which consists of a closet, a commode, cat house, lamp, laundry basket, and speaks about the depicted visuals derived from mythological figurative paintings newly interpreted in pop art style.

The remix of religious iconography and pop art is signature for the work of Artis.Love. It can be found in the series 'Wheel of Fortune' as well as at his artwork for the public space installation for 'Everything will be fine' at MQ Vienna where artists set last year in 2020 positive inputs to conquer the challenges that occurred due the pandemic. Part of the Artis.Love X Ikea project is a donation of 5.000.- Euro to the Austrian NGO 'Volkshilfe' for supporting the countrywide running initiative against child poverty 'Kinderarmut abschaffen'. The initiative is currently from 21 June until 2 July on tour through the nine federal states of Austria for the promotion of the Kindergrundsicherung, a basic security for children.

Ikea's collaboration with Artis.Love is the latest art project of the Swedish furniture brand in Austria. One of Ikea's most illustrious international art collaborations of the last years was the one with Virgil Abloh in 2018 (article). Arts & crafts is another theme which was presented on occasion of the Artis.Love range. The 'LOKALT' pieces of the currently available Ikea range of rugs, cushion sleeves, home accessories,... are created by designers and produced by craftspeople in community manufactories in Amman (Jordan), Bangkok (Thailand) and Delhi (India).