Ståle Gerhardsen mural unveiled at Phase One in Liverpool
Renowned Norwegian artist, Ståle Gerhardsen, has unveiled his first UK installation at Phase One in Liverpool.
The artist, who was visiting the city as part of a wider delegation from Rognan in Norway, unveiled his latest mural at Jacaranda Records & Phase One on Seel Street in Liverpool on Saturday (1 October).
“Since this is a music venue and record store, my idea is that people can be ‘in tune’ to a song, and that you can introduce another person to get that same song, so he is sitting comfortably enjoying his favourite tune, and that is the company of someone else. It’s a love story through the eyes of music.” Gerhardsen said of the work.
The artist was also captivated by the city of Liverpool. “It is beautiful. The one thing I notice is the old big important buildings, built by hand with bricks, with so much love in the buildings, colliding with neon lights and modern trendy structures. It is super cool to see how the new and the old merge together.”
While the Phase One mural was the main reason for his visit to Liverpool, while he was in town Gerhardsen left other marks on the city for people to find.
The wider Norwegian delegation included the organisers and sponsors of the country’s Blåfrost Festival, who came to Liverpool as part of their plans to bring the festival to the city. While in Liverpool, the Norwegian delegation met with Metro Mayor, Steve Rotheram; Liverpool FC’s Jamie Carragher; and Liverpool band, The Hummingbirds, and enjoyed to a special night out at The Jacaranda Club, arriving in style in John Lennon’s Rolls Royce!
Phase One at Jacaranda Records, is a unique blend of record store, bar, live music venue and beer garden. The venue opened in May 2018 and was inspired by The Jacaranda Club complex. The Jacaranda Record Store is the city’s largest vinyl record shop.
The Blåfrost Festival takes place every year in Rognan in northern Norway. In just a few years, the festival has established itself as one of the musical highlights of the polar region. With a unique industrial fingerprint, the festival takes place in a disused shipyard in Rognan, Blåfrost has gone from being a festival with a local impact, to becoming a regional and national player, with international artists now on the program. The festival sells out within minutes, every single year.