East London’s Nathan Sanan… Graffiti Vandal or Street Artist?

East London has recently started taking notice of the murals being done by a young East London creative who is beautifying some of the cities blighted areas with beautiful and appropriately placed murals.

Popular in many cities around the world and in South Africa, Contemporary Graffiti or Street Art has taken it’s time to reach East London… but reach us it finally has!  So… is this a good thing?

By day an architect and by night, weekends & holidays, a creative street art enthusiast, Nathan Sanan has brought this popular form of landscape beautification to East London.  While Nathan shies away from being called an artist, his work is saying otherwise – and the people in our city are loving it!

You may have seen his work at Sanook in Berea, or the beautiful indigenous birds he has painted on a grungy wall in Chamberlain Road in Vincent, or even the stunning family portrait on the front of Ekhaya Eziko in Curry Street, but now you get to meet the person behind these beautiful murals and find out more about who he is and what are his motivations.

Born and raised in Port Elizabeth, creative Nathan Sanan, grew up in a liberal family environment with strong women who encouraged him to follow his passions and gave him the confidence and latitude to do so. His obsession for detail and passion for detailed artistic subject matter pointed him to architecture, which he studied at UPE.  Supporting himself through varsity by holding parties in derelict buildings around Port Elizabeth, Nathan qualified as an architect and started working with Imbono Architects in 2008 in Port Elizabeth.

Used to being part of a tight knit group of friends with whom he had grown up with since childhood, it was a tough move when Nathan left them behind and moved with his company to East London in 2011.  Tough as it may have been, it is here in East London that he says he discovered himself, and found the self-confidence to follow his dual passions, architecture and street art.

He is very clear on one point – that architecture is his main passion.  In terms of his architecture, he is more open about claiming his dues.  In his own words:

“Architecture is what I love, it is what I am good at, it is what inspires my artwork… and it is also what brought me to East London!”

Why then the Graffiti you may ask?

Graffiti is a term normally associated with vandalism.  After discovering Nathan’s work and the publics response to it, I found myself wondering why the normally rather conservative communities in East London appear to be more accepting of what Nathan is doing, given that both art forms include public spaces and tins of spray paint… usually not a very good combination?

Over a ‘bucket load’ of cappuccino, Nathan explained that the difference is one thing… intent!  While in the past Graffiti was used to demarcate gang territory and resistance to authority… todays Contemporary Graffiti or Street Art is being used to beautify walls, spaces and buildings, creating conversations, shared experiences and a sense of pride within local communities.  This is the space in which Nathan operates.

A relatively quiet and shy guy (with people he does not know well), but with a very quick self-depreciating whit, Nathan has come out of his shell, working in the daylight, where he gets to interact with the public and take responsibility for his ‘sometimes’ unauthorised artistic ‘interventions’.  The overwhelming positive response he has experienced in these interactions has far outweighed the couple of negative ones and has encouraged him to continue.

In building up his ‘street art cred’, he has had to dodge a few arrows and stretch the truth just a little to get to where he is today.  He confesses to ‘fudging the truth’ when once asked if he had permission to paint the birds on the wall in Chamberlain Road.  He also had to dodge a rather large burley and not too happy man, who questioned his intentions on the same wall, only to have him return at the end of the day and shake his hand.  It has taken time, but Nathan has persevered and made many converts.

A typical creative, when asked which of his murals he likes best, it is a hard question for him to answer as each piece has given him different experiences, feelings and emotions.  He refuses to paint ‘a commission’ if he does not ‘feel’ it, and takes pains to ensure that his ‘Street Art’ passion is not ruined by allowing it to become just another mundane job.

An example of his love for the medium is the bird wall in Chamberlain Road.  This he states is his ‘freedom’ where he gets to enjoy light-hearted subject matter with complete freedom to create what he calls ‘mindless beauty’.  His future plans for this wall is to paint a huge fish eagle on the double volume right hand side, however he needs permission to put up scaffolding or permission to park a cherry picker… and all that takes time and money.  One day… hopefully!

On the emotional side, his respect for the work done for the community of the Buffalo Flats by the Hawks Motor Cycle Club, meant he got the opportunity to give back to this wonderful bunch of caring bikers when he painted a stunning hawk mural in their Buffalo Flats Club House… one of his favourites.

The Ekhaya Eziko mural he says was incredibly special as he immersed himself in the community over the duration of four days.  He got to celebrate the end of each long day sharing beers with the locals at the shebeen across the road, and was deeply honoured to be made so welcome by the owners, locals and community alike.

He was also commissioned by Stretford Holdings to do a mural in the Paediatric Ward at the Frere Hospital?  These he calls his ‘soul food’ and were the most humbling of his life, as he got to paint murals that will encourage thousands of sick children to find their smile, for years to come.

Nathan’s strong belief in the rights of women and children and clearly his talent in the medium, earn him a commission in his original home town of Port Elizabeth.  Aspen PE Women’s Forum chose him to paint a mural as part of their 16 Days of Activism Campaign.  This beautiful mural has become a striking visual reminder of this pandemic affecting the vulnerable women and children in our country and world-wide.

Nathan has also worked overseas, using these commissions as an opportunity to reconnect with his closely knit group of friends, who have been known to pack their bags and make a holiday out of supporting their friend, while he completes a commission, such as the owl mural in London.

So what can we expect from Nathan going forward?

Well Nathan has no plans to stop anytime soon.  East London can benefit hugely from uplifting, appropriately placed and well intentioned Street Art.  His aim is to identify and work with local talented artistic youth to grow the medium right here in the city.  Identifying and developing local youth with these skills, will hopefully give them the skills to, in the future, earn a living.

Community minded, Nathan is eager to offer his time and experience to bring this to fruition, however the cost of the paint can be prohibitive and as such is the primary stumbling block.  With paint donations and his free time however, this is a community development initiative that would greatly benefit the talented artistic youth and our city.

He would love to be involved in improving the aesthetics of the city. He has put a huge amount of research and work into identifying possible sites for these murals, and is very mindful of the appropriateness of what would suit each location.  His work includes a comprehensive outline of what our city could look like if we embrace this form of aesthetic.  His personal dream is to paint a huge mural on the side of the Osner Hotel, creating a beautiful statement piece on a prominent wall on our cities main beachfront.

To catch Nathan in action, keep your eye out for the Lazy Days events held around the city.  Nathan is often asked to paint a canvas during these events, so it is the perfect time to catch him in action, and to chat to him about any project you might have in mind.

To view his work in person, some of his murals can be found at The Hard Yard, East London Crossfit in the Hub, Robotics Training and the Hawks Clubhouse in Buffalo Flats… or you can follow him on Instagram… just as I am!

Article:  Sandy Loppnow
Photographs:  Nathan Sanan Instagram Page