Animals in the City
Street Art Break in VR
ROA is a world famous street artist who likes to paint animals with personality.
South Africa sees animals as part of the nation’s personality, so it was a natural, bringing the artist for I ART JBURG in 2012 and giving him the whole side of an industrial building at the edge of downtown Doorfontein, Johannesburg.
The animals are still there, ten years later. And why not? They’re obviously comfortable. Draped over the ledges, their bodies perfectly at ease.
That’s what’s so funny — how ridiculously easy it is for them to lounge away 24/7. Eyes closed, no worries. Ribs and skin wrinkles showing.
There are six of them — all native to South Africa, all totally chill there together.
Springbok
Sable Antelope
Giraffe
Hippo
Rhino
Elephant
The Springbok is one of the few large wildlife species that is expanding, not endangered. It can go for a year without drinking water, getting what it needs by eating succulent plants. The Springbok is the national animal of South Africa.
The Sable Antelope are grazers and browsers and their habitat is threatened by development. They live in a highly structured society built around herds of one bull and 10–30 females, constantly growing and forming new herds. Bachelor herds of extra males are always available, with the leader moving to take over the new female herds. Remaining bachelors then fight but never inflict bodily damage.
Giraffes are so extreme they can serve as a cultural symbol of far sightedness as well as evolution gone berserk. They are the tallest mammal, they stand up almost all the time, and they hardly need any sleep. They are also peaceful and when they do fight, they bump necks, obviously called ‘necking,’ which seldom causes harm.
Hippos favorite food is underwater and they hold their breath for five minutes at a time chowing down at the bottom of lakes and rivers. In many cultures, Hippos are spiritual protectors of pregnancy and infancy as they are known for their ferocity in guarding their young.
Rhinos are a paradox — they represent tolerance and a gentle approach, even though they are strong and powerful. They symbolize authority and also freedom. And then there’s the horn, made of the same protein — keratin — as fingernails. So if it has special powers, which it doesn’t, there are easier ways.
Maybe Elephants never forget because their temporal lobe is larger and denser than humans. They communicate across multiple channels, including seismic vibrations they perceive in their bones. They are the planet’s largest land animal and 90% of the African Elephants have been wiped out in the past century.
ROA’s large public animal paintings are instantly recognizable. He is not. His art has touched millions but he himself is almost completely unknown.
ROA was born in 1976 and grew up in Ghent, Belgium.
Looking at the work as a whole, we can see a preference for rodents. They are shown like the place is theirs, like they belong here.
In general, the animals are native to where they are painted, or once were. The art clearly asks for them to be back and in charge.
Very few world class street artists are as prolific and as passionately focused on a single theme as ROA. A book was published in 2019 and along with Gallery exhibitions, the revenue lets ROA continue to follow the passion.
Tom’s work has not appeared in The New York Times, New Yorker Magazine, The New Republic, the New England Journal of Medicine, or anything New at all.
He only publishes in obscure journals and, once upon a time, PBS Program Guides. Otherwise he just gives his work a URL and sends it packing on the web at places like Medium and Sub-Stack, where he enjoys a modest following.
