Ukrainian artist WAONE paints Mural in Mannheim, Germany

The SWK festival in Mannheim, Germany, is a world class event bringing international mural art to the streets of Mannheim. The most recent addition to the SWK (Stadt.Wand.Kunst) guest list was no stranger to Montana-Cans. Vladimir Manzhos aka WAONE may still not ring a bell for some. But when you add that he was one half of the the former mural duo Interesni Kazki, then things heat up.

Since 2016, WAONE has been flying solo continuing to make art in a fairy tale way. The translation of the words Interesni Kazki actually means, “Interesting Fairy Tales”.

Although at it alone, WAONE is still creating symbolic, magical works that have a historic touch of the masters while dealing with contemporary content. And thats Manzhos’s goal, to make high divine values accessible to every man.

“Jump Through time”- after Interesni Kazki

Even long before his now well known painterly murals, WAONE was a graffiti artist on the streets of Kiev in the Ukraine, spreading the disease as his peers deemed necessary. But in 2003 he got bored of letters and in 2005 he teamed up with colleague Aec, to form Interesni Kazki and take their visual story telling to a new level. These days the art of WAONE is his way of tapping into an invisible world and escaping the vanity of everyday life. WAONE Interesni Kazki mural at Stadt Wand Kunst

work in process

The search is real and the stakes are high in the search for the origin of entire existence. And as does he develop in style and content, so do his materials. Leaving the humble spray can behind, he now focus on acrylic bucket paints for his outdoor work and superior tinting with the Montana ACRYLIC paints to achieve just the right colors and vibrancies. Loose your self in an alternate reality here, as a house facade in Mannheim becomes a “Jump Through Time“.