Artist adds colour to streets
Akeem: A simple artwork can bring life to an otherwise empty area
JOHOR BARU: When Iskandar Noor Rahim caught his first glimpse of street art as a boy, he was hooked.
He wondered how a simple artwork painted on the wall could do so much in bringing life to an otherwise empty street.
“I have been painting since I was about five but back then, I only painted on canvas.
“Eventually, I taught myself to paint on walls and through a series of trial and error, I managed to train myself to be a street artist,” he said, adding that he had been doing it full time for about 13 years now.
Iskandar, better known as Akeem, is among the artists who painted under the #tanahairku Merdeka campaign by Petronas along Jalan Dhoby back in 2016.
He was also invited by the Kluang city council to paint Laman Kreatif and Laman Pesona in Kampung Masjid Lama, which has since become an iconic landmark among Johoreans.
Akeem said there was more appreciation for street art today with people starting to see how this could attract more visitors and make the town look more colourful.
“When I first started, not everyone welcomed the art form as many looked at it as vandalism.
“However, today, demand for street art is increasing and people have started inviting artists to paint on their walls,” said the 38-year-old.
Akeem said he had received invitations to paint on cafes, barber shops, schools and community cen- tres in the past few years.
Akeem, who specialises in portraits and characters, said he preferred to use spray paint instead of brushes as he felt that this created better effects as well as allowed him to work faster.
“By using sprays, I am able to create effects and colour gradient that would have been difficult to achieve with a paint brush.
“Painting the wall is the easiest part of the process as I am already used to it. The real challenge is to come out with a sketch that is best suited for it,” he added.