RACHAEL
450 x 300 cm
In street art, and stencilling in particular, having an artist represent a character from popular culture is nothing unusual. Moreover, it is how most of the contemporary street artists started their careers because they needed a suitable model to practice with. But Bug, twosome that is not active anymore, had a whole array of famous scenes or characters, ranging from music and movies to sports. And, naturally, one has to be ‘initiated’ into the popular culture in order to understand the references. For example, until recently, one of their most popular artworks was still visible in the city area of Vračar, where they presented a famous scene from the 1986 football World Cup, where Maradona scored a goal, the scene usually being referred to as ‘The Hand of God’. In another piece, only those that love and respect a masterpiece of science fiction, Blade Runner from 1982, can readily recognize Rachel, the human-like android that was made so perfectly that she became an ideal, a perfect woman. We find many popular culture characters spilling into the early graffiti culture, from comics and video games and in the form of animated characters. These graphic disciplines have one thing in common – the quality of line. Even today, this cross-pollination of different graphic expressions is still happening and is very much present in contemporary street art.