“What do you carry with you, what do you leave behind?”
For many years, we were often asked the same question: When are you going to release a book? Our answer was always: not yet. We always felt there were more walls to paint, more ideas to explore, and more stories to tell before the time was right. We wanted to keep creating and developing our work rather than looking back too soon. Now, twenty years after the beginning of Studio Giftig, it feels like the right moment. Wall Stories: 20 Years of Street Art is a celebration of the journey so far. It brings together a selection of our work from the past two decades, while also giving a glimpse behind the walls, into the sketches, ideas, challenges, and creative process that bring a mural to life.
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Reaching the twenty-year naturally make you look back and ask yourself: “What do you carry with you, what do you leave behind?” For us, the answer is found in the stories, experiences, friendships, and lessons that have shaped our work along the way. This book is not a conclusion, but a moment to pause, look back, and celebrate twenty years of Studio Giftig. Studio Giftig Niels van Swaemen & Kaspar van Leek
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Bas Verdonk I never guessed I’d be writing a book about street art. But that’s how things go sometimes. Art has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. My mother is an artist. I grew up watching her work, surrounded by paint and canvases and the quiet of a studio in progress. That early exposure never really left me. Over the years it grew into a genuine interest of my own. In art, in the people who make it, in how a body of work comes together over a lifetime. My own path went in a different direction: advertising and marketing. Years spent building creative concepts. But it was the same instinct I’d watched her chase all along. Turning an idea into something that actually works. Just on a different kind of canvas. That’s the perspective I brought to this project. I’ve also been a Studio Giftig fan since the early days, back at Jera On Air, where I saw their murals for the first time. I’ve been photographing them, and their work, ever since. These are extraordinary artists. Award winners. World champions. And, above all, good friends. Along the way, I learned even more about them: how they met, the struggles they faced, what drives them. These pages are about their art, first and foremost, which stands on its own. But the story behind it gives it that much more depth. It’s been an honour.
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Bas Verdonk, Creative Director
Jérôme Catz In 2006, the street art movement began its process of institutionalisation. Banksy had already achieved superstar status, Shepard Fairey was producing some of his most acclaimed exhibitions shortly before creating the iconic HOPE poster for Barack Obama, and major institutions were preparing landmark exhibitions: Tate Modern (2008), the Fondation Cartier, and the Bristol Museum (2009). Since then, and despite significant resistance from parts of the contemporary art world, street art has written its own history and forged its own path. Techniques have been refined, practices have become increasingly specialised (vandalism, stencilling, collage, muralism, and the professionalisation of the discipline), and numerous cities have welcomed street art with open arms, granting it an official place in the urban landscape. Jérôme Catz, Director — Street Art Fest Grenoble-Alpes Independent Curator · Author Lecturer at Université Grenoble Alpes
This art form, accessible to all 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, serves as a powerful reminder that popular education remains vibrant. It continues to attract ever more enthusiasts, creating a virtuous circle between the public and artists who naturally harness social media to engage with a global audience. Among the various practices, monumental muralism has clearly taken centre stage: size matters. And among the most striking works, it is the hyperrealists who most readily win the admiration of the general public: technique matters. Studio Giftig takes this approach to its highest level. The duo constantly elevates its mastery of hyperrealism while maintaining the highest standards in the conception and composition of its works. Once the preparatory sketch is approved, a professional photoshoot worthy of the finest studios is organised. With each new mural, Niels van Swaemen and Kaspar van Leek confront the history of art — and do so with remarkable success. It is hardly surprising that they enjoy such widespread acclaim. Yet with this success comes the responsibility to remain highly creative whenever they are given a blank façade. The hyperrealistic future is unwritten, and Studio Giftig is currently writing a significant chapter of it.
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6. Institution In early 2022, a mural by Studio Giftig entered an international competition that would unexpectedly mark a new milestone in their career. The work, titled Trashure, had been nominated by Street Art Cities for the award of Best Mural Worldwide. The platform, widely regarded as the largest global archive of street art, documents murals through an extensive digital map and curatorial network that follows the movement across continents. Each year, thousands of murals from around the world are reviewed, with one hundred selected as official nominees. From that shortlist, the public casts votes to determine the winner. For Niels and Kaspar, the nomination alone already felt like recognition. They were competing alongside murals by some of the most prominent artists in the international scene. When the results were announced, Trashure had received the highest number of votes worldwide. The announcement triggered significant
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media attention, both nationally and internationally. For Studio Giftig the award represented more than personal success. It also drew attention to the growing recognition of street art as a serious artistic discipline capable of addressing urgent social and environmental themes. The mural itself carries a clear message about sustainability and circular thinking. At first glance the composition depicts a woman dressed in an elegant gown. On closer inspection, the dress reveals itself to be constructed entirely from waste materials: plastic, fabric scraps, and discarded objects forming the texture of the garment. The figure moves through a dark environment toward a luminous globe made of textiles and recycled materials, shaped like the planet Earth. The image functions as a metaphor for transformation: waste becomes value when viewed through a creative lens. The location of the mural strengthens this message. Trashure was painted on the facade of a recycling company,
directly linking the visual narrative to the everyday processes taking place inside the building. The concept was not merely symbolic. To prepare the image, Niels and Kaspar immersed themselves in the material reality of waste. They collected bags of discarded objects from the recycling facility, brought them to their studio, and physically constructed the dress on a model. Circular creativity became both a visual concept and a lived experience.
Trashure | Tilburg, the Netherlands 2022
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Kleur | This mural was created by Studio Giftig in collaboration with Snelle as part of the Music & Murals project. In his song Kleur (“Colour”), Snelle reflects on how a loved one can bring colour and meaning to a city, a message that Studio Giftig translated into a mural celebrating love, hope and connection. The artwork incorporates several recognisable landmarks from Deventer, including the Bergkerk, the Bakenboom and the city’s characteristic street lamps. Visitors with a keen eye may also discover a subtle Easter egg: Pleun’s Rainbow Ice Cream, symbolising colour and positivity while raising awareness of Batten disease (CLN3), the rare genetic condition that Pleun lives with. | Deventer, the Netherlands 2024
Watch the full webisode on Studio Giftig’s YouTube channel.
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Belfast Spring | A fresh Belfast spring wind as a sign of a new beginning. Just like the flax flower which also symbolizes a new start. Traditionally, flax plants are given to newlyweds to honor their new home. This mural on a former linen mill shows the flax flowers from which linen is made. | Hit the North - Belfast, Ireland 2023 182
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