Street artist Maser collaborates with TLC

The JP McManus Benevolent Fund commissioned renowned Irish street artist Maser to upscale a disused building in Limerick city centre.

Irish street artist transforms rundown building on Limerick’s Thomas St.

Renowned Irish street artist Maser has collaborated with Team Limerick Clean-Up to upscale a disused building in Limerick city centre.

The building, located on Thomas St., in the heart of the city, has been completely transformed to a colourful street art design that celebrates the success of Team Limerick Clean-up 4, which took place on Good Friday this year and saw a record 18,500 volunteers take to the streets for Europe’s biggest one day clean up. The collaboration was commissioned by the JP McManus Benevolent fund in association with Limerick City and County Council.

Maser, along with some local volunteers, has upcycled the building and given it fresh purpose, something that has been a theme throughout much of his work since he started painting street art in the 1990s. Since then, he has created unique street art worldwide and worked on major projects with the likes of U2 and Damien Dempsey.

Maser said of his new artwork: “As with all my work, this piece is very abstract, and incorporates pride of place and community, which are both so important to Limerick city and Team Limerick Clean-Up. I used local community volunteers to paint the piece with me, allowing them to take ownership of the artwork that sits on their street. This is a great project and I was delighted to be asked to work on something that celebrates the great success Team Limerick Clean-up has had.”

Team Limerick Clean-up ambassador Paul O’Connell said: “Maser street art aims to show, keeping the local community tidy is a year-round project. This is what we are trying to educate people about and working with an artist as talented as Maser is a great way to do so.”

Since starting out on the walls of his neighbourhood in the 1990s, Maser has grown to become one of Ireland’s best-known street artists. He has worked with leading names in this country including U2, Damien Dempsey and Brown Thomas, and around the globe, with a number of projects having been completed in the USA and across Europe. His work is frequently seen on the streets of our cities, adding a dash of colour to our daily lives.

Maser has a unique approach to his work; he reinvents space, transforming often derelict sites into an oasis of colour. A lot of his work focuses on empathy and responsiveness of social conditions – the very qualities that allow for public art to be both provocative and transformative. Maser uses strong geometric prints and patterns to cut through space, lines offsetting each other in repetition, colours that are boldly complimenting and conflicting to create a dynamic energy that is fused with vibrancy, optimism and hope.

To see a selection of his best work, visit: www.maserart.com

Team Limerick Clean-Up (TLC) is an initiative sponsored by the JP McManus Benevolent Fund and administered by Limerick City and County Council. Endorsed by Paul O’Connell, the official partners include Mr. Binman, The Limerick Leader and Limerick’s Live 95FM. Participants this year included current and ex-Munster rugby players Keith Earls, David Wallace and Jerry Flannery.