ERNEST Zacharevic, the Lithuanian-born artist who made his adopted home of Penang a global city for mural artworks through his "Little Children on a Bicycle" piece, a permanent feature along Armenian Street, is making a comeback of sorts.
He is driving innovation in the field of disused automobiles by creating innovative artworks and designs within the car's interior.
Zacharevic remains his outspoken self on the plight of street artists, having to face bureaucratic, tight local authorities, exploitative building owners, and selfish corporate entities, but it has not left him perturbed.
Instead, with like-minded street artist communities the world over, Zacharevic and his model wife, Sheena Liam Yue Sheen, have come out with their latest creation - car-based artworks- and the duo have plans to exhibit them all.
The car now sits nicely in his art gallery of Cultprint along Malay Street - right in the secondary heart of the George Town World Heritage Site.
The heritage enclave has become synonymous with colonial-era architecture, which dots the unofficial capital of Penang, George Town.
Zacharevic's breakout series of murals, created for the George Town Festival in 2012, has since become iconic landmarks and a must - snap selfie.
In recent years, he has focused on environmental and social issues, and he opened his art gallery, Cultprint, which serves as a cultural hub, hosting a diverse program of exhibitions, collaborations, and community events.
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Last Friday, he spoke about the in - car artworks where the interior compartment of the vehicle is redesigned as space for innovative artworks and designs.
"I hope more abandoned vehicles can be reused as platforms for artworks. I hope to line up several of them as an exhibition space soon," said Zacharevic.
Culprint also hosted the long art weekend of Penang, with many artwork exhibitions and private viewings located in Malay Street, Chulia Street, Gurdwara Road and Kimberly as well as Carnavon Streets.
Under the theme of subculture, it is rooted in self-defined communities, informal networks, and collective sensibilities.
The works explore subculture as a condition of making: fluid, self-determined, and embedded in everyday experience, asserting an internal logic rather than conforming to imposed definitions.
The artists in partnership with Zacharevic, were Alex Face, Antoine Loncle, Bibichun
Bono Stellar, Cloakwork, Hoo Fan Chon, Isaac Cordal, Jolene Liam, Kenji Chai, Kuro Neko, Sam Lo, Sheena Liam, Teebai, TAZONE, Trexus, Trina Teoh, Tep York, Yok & Sheryo and Zozo. - March 10, 2026.
