While many street painters use deserted buildings and derelict railroad lines as canvases for their exploding masterpieces, Dutch street artist Jan Is De Man takes a different approach, creating dynamic works for local communities that wish to interact. His goal is to construct projects “where everyone can identify themselves” by including the locals who commission him.

Jan Is De Man’s most recent community project is a whimsical three-story trompe l’oeil mural bookshelf on an apartment building in Utrecht, Netherlands. The artist was assisted by Deef Feed, a fellow street artist who has worked on a few other murals with him and is the co-owner of their tattoo business, “Blackbook Tattoos,” in the middle of Utrecht.

@janisdeman contributed to this image.
Jan Is De Man said that the site for the painting came before the concept: “I know the individuals who reside on the bottom level quite well.” They’ve been wanting a mural by my hand for a long time.

They also wanted to give me the freedom to create anything I wanted, as long as it was beneficial to their community. The initial thought was to paint a smiling face. A large smiley because I feel that seeing a smile every day makes people happier. But this notion didn’t seem finished; it was too simplistic.

He thought of the idea for a trompe l’oeil mural after looking closely at his canvas. Trompe l’oeil means “visual deception in art, especially when used to trick the eye into thinking that a painted detail is a three-dimensional object.”

“I analyzed the design of the home and the place where this house sits, and suddenly the idea of building a massive bookshelf struck me,” he said. I like creating illusions on walls and seeing people’s grins, and this concept (I reasoned) might bring all of this together.