Edward Russell
The Red Mice District is an alternate world inspired by Amsterdam’s Red Light District. A place where risqué rodents dressed as pin-up girls inhabit in the spaces between sex shops and strip clubs, the whole project is nothing short of a subversive delight.
The Red Mice District is a lead off from a mural called The City of Lost Mice which Risi was commissioned to do for Café Belgique. Featuring a hostage cat-woman surrounded by famous mouse characters, the artwork has proven immensely popular.
© Luiz Risi, The Red Mice District.
Risi also drew inspiration from the fact that Amsterdam, like most European cities, is infested with rodents. Mice are the city dweller’s invisible neighbours, and The Red Mice District plays off this fact.
Installed in various locations around the De Wallen Red Light District, Risi’s sexy characters are a saucy kind of surprise. Some pieces live inside venues and others outside them, and each character comes in a frame mounted with their own red light.
© Luiz Risi, The Red Mice District.
The works themselves are all illustrated by hand with graphite on paper; then colourised, printed, and mounted into their frames. The character’s stories are built upon through a series of short films and collaborations with international artists, like The London Police, Minivilla, Wayne Horse, and Joe Holbrook.
The mind behind the unique project is Luiz Risi, who hails from Brazil but currently lives in Europe. Risi is a man of many talents; among them creative art director, multidisciplinary designer and illustrator, filmmaker, and, of course, artist.
© Luiz Risi, The Red Mice District.
The Red Mice District has slowly but steadily been gaining recognition over the past couple of years, and Risi’s pieces are now so popular that they are on occasion snagged from the walls on which they hang.
The unique allure of Risi’s sexy mice puts his upcoming showing at Vroom & Varossieau Urban Contemporary Art Gallery in good stead, with his highly anticipated The Red Mice District solo exhibition opening at the gallery in Amsterdam on November 11th.
© Luiz Risi, The Red Mice District.
You can find more information about the project at theredmicedistrict.com.
