Nemo’s is hanging us all out to dry with his newest mural on a multi-story factory wall in Messina, Italy that features his familiar hapless chaps clipped to a clothesline, sans clothes.
Nemo’s. Messina, Italy. October, 2015. (photo © Nemo’s)
His critique is of a shallow and shock-addicted press and media that exaggerates and simplifies the suffering, the unmitigated tragedy of people – sometimes for our comfort.
His focus is on immigrants escaping oppression who have drowned and the pseudo-compassion of contemporary news coverage and grand-standing politicians that feed xenophobia. He says we are overlooking the complete desperation of an escaping individual that causes them to take such risk, only to be swallowed in a watery death due to unseaworthy vessels.
Nemo’s. Messina, Italy. October, 2015. (photo © Nemo’s)
“I’m depicting an insane state imbued with selfishness, where the deaths of the sea are overshadowed by sterile discussions on how migrants can create much discomfort to our conditions,” he says. Here he points to us behaving as outsiders, perhaps guilty of xenophobia, willing to flatten a tragedy of its dimension in order to keep the “other” at arms length, distancing ourselves from any responsibility.
“With those four naked bodies I am representing, through a surreal metaphor, the total and absurd unconsciousness that newspapers and diplomacy use for talk about the theme of the deaths in the sea.
In the tragedy of death, the worst and selfish aspects of our society, with banal and thoughtless actions, take the bodies from the sea and hang them out like clothes to dry. It is as if the problem of these people is to be wet and not to be drowned.”
His method is a dark comedy, depicting these very similar looking guys in an unlikely situation. His attached message may not be clear to the average unlooker, but it may pique their curiosity to inquire what NemO’s newest piece is about.
Nemo’s. Messina, Italy. October, 2015. (photo © Nemo’s)
Nemo’s. Messina, Italy. October, 2015. (photo © Nemo’s)
Nemo’s. Messina, Italy. October, 2015. (photo © Nemo’s)
<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA
Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!
<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><>BSA
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
With ten fresh new murals, Coney Art Walls 2017 has made its official debut for summer. Starting this past weekend with the Mermaid Parade in full swing with Debbie Harry and Chris Stein as Queen and ...
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities. Now screening : 1."Collective Heartbreak" KNOW HOPE at Nuart 2017 2. Igor Ponosov "Too Far, Too Close" 3. UNIQA...
Groovin' on a Sunday afternoon.... This week was full of great Street Art stories - the main one everyone was talking about was fake TV graffiti by the Egyptian Street Artists who hacked the prop...
Today we have a look at the new wall by Portuguese mural artist Add Fuel, who likes to peel back the historical layers of a community to reveal traditional tile making patterns as well as new hybrids...
The 3rd Edition of Living Walls begins this spring and BSA is pleased to again partner with Monica Compana and her team to bring you the action in Atlanta for 2012. Supporting the ATL efforts sinc...