All posts tagged: Fabio Petani

BOLO and the “Partisan Coot” in Molinella for ARTU

BOLO and the “Partisan Coot” in Molinella for ARTU

Ferrara-based Alessio Bolognesi (Bolo) is a part of the Vida Krei Collective with two other Italian artists, Psiko and Rash. Here in Molinella last fall for the ARTU festival, BOLO went solo to paint his “Folaga Partigiana”, or “Partisan Coot.”

The huge event invites many artists to paint – one creative activity that isn’t really constricted during the pandemic – and one that draws an appreciative audience.

BOLO. “Partisan Coot”. ARTU Fest. Molinella, Italy. (photo courtesy of the artist)

Bolo’s mural focuses on a Coot – the medium-sized water that are members of the rail family, Rallidae – and who figure into regional history. He places and old water mill on the bird’s back, and since Molinella comes from the Italian word for mill, Molino, you can see where he is taking you. He places a red handkerchief around its neck in solidarity with the partisan struggles in this area, he says.

BOLO. “Partisan Coot”. ARTU Fest. Molinella, Italy. (photo courtesy of the artist)

“I wanted to create a work that can be read at different levels” – Bolo explains – “the first impact is certainly due to the contrast between the bunch of colors in the background and the black of the coot which, I hope, is positive for those arriving in the village since the wall of the railway station on which I painted the mural is located right on one of the main access roads to the town. However, if you want to read beyond the aesthetic aspect, then you can stop and reflect on the references to the territory and history I wanted to include in the project “

BOLO. “Partisan Coot”. ARTU Fest. Molinella, Italy. (photo courtesy of the artist)

Artists who participated in the festival included Kiki Skipi, Mi Chiamo Zeta, Vesod, Fabio Petani, Paolo Psiko, Alessio Bolognesi, Ermes Bichi, Alessio Anthony, Pasa, Burla, Turbo Kidd, Luca Lorenzoni, Edo 9000, Gloria Goderecci, Adamo Morky, Luca Falesiedi, Inch the Kid, Marco Gallini, Brome 732, Rash, Mr S and Jato.

BOLO. “Partisan Coot”. ARTU Fest. Molinella, Italy. (photo courtesy of the artist)
Read more
UPEA Finland 2018, A Cross Country Installation of Quality Murals

UPEA Finland 2018, A Cross Country Installation of Quality Murals

UPEART 2018 in Finland took place during the month of September including 20 international and local artists in 12 different cities across the country.

Case Maclaim. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Today we give you a recap of some favorite scenes from the festival across many cities of Finland thanks to the vision and organizing of Jorgos Fanaris and his team who collectively direct the festival from their headquarters in a post-industrial neighborhood of Helsinki. While there is a proud graff scene and history here, and the city has areas like the Pasila Street Art District, the capital is usually known as a sparkling international city of islands and a peninsula by the Gulf of Finland facing Tallinn, Estonia across the bay.

Proudly humble, elegant and rationally romantic, the city is flanked on all sides by arts and culture, low and high, with historical art institutions like the National Museum as well as the more contemporary Kiasma and cross disciplinary Kunsthalle Helsinki. A deeper rooted cultural history is also apparent in the traditional wooden architecture, the influence of its neighbors Sweden and Russia, and its ability even today to evolve with the most modern of global design practice.

Case Maclaim. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For urban explorers like ourselves who wander the margins and explore the forgotten, neglected parts of the metropolis, it was a bit of a shock to see 8 charming Finnish cities and towns in only a few days – interspersed with millions of birch tree forests and sweeping vistas of farmland, with Russia visible at one point just across a canal.

We drove from uncongested towns surrounded by woodlands like Joensuu and Hyvinkää to midsized cities like Tampere and Espoo, using a stick shift Volkswagen and minding the speed cameras on a smooth and well maintained system of roads and highways. Usually we’re looking out for rats and broken glass and homeless drug users, not slow-moving farming tractors and wily-eyed moose who may cross your path.

Case Maclaim. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

But the murals! Choosing from among some of the most accomplished painters and planners of design in the current international scene, Fanaris relies on his own history with graffiti, hip hop, and perhaps the Finnish National Opera when selecting participants to invite.

The quality is high in many instances throughout the mural program and municipalities are gifted with some works may prove timeless – until they fade. Perhaps more decorative than transgressive as a whole, these are public works made in collaboration with local tastes. Some meanings are buried beneath layers, others more obvious and on the surface. An unrealized irony of many “legit” mural programs like this one is many of these artists used to do the illegal stuff too.

As UPEART travels and evolves it will be interesting to see how it changes. Fanaris tells us that the future will include installations, sculpture, even performance as the festival becomes more integrated with communities. With a solid foundation of curation on a massive country-wide scale in these first three years, we look forward to see where UPEART moves next.

Mantra. UPEArt Finland 2018. Hyvinkää, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“When I was a child I was not curious about painting,” Mantra says, “I was more curious about what I could find in the garden so that’s why I spent a lot of time studying these insects and these animals.” Later he shows us images of butterflies and other winged creatures rendered in high fidelity inside decaying factory rooms, including a large dead bird lying on its side. “I painted this because I had seen a dead bird in the garden only a week before.”

Read more: Mantra in Hyvinkää for UPEART Festival 2018 Finland – Dispatch 5

Mantra. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Hyvinkää, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Mantra)

Mantra. UPEArt Finland 2018. Hyvinkää, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Mantra)

Sainer. UPEArt Finland 2018. Helsinki, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“I think my work is changing recently,” he says. “I have liked to do plainer paintings – like small landscapes . I’m not really into the characters that much in the same way that I was. When I do paint characters they are in the shadow. I like the idea of making portraits where the portrait is not the most important part of the painting.”

BSA: That’s so anti-intuitive – because normally that would be the center focal point, right?

Sainer: Yes – even here the portrait is central but I am trying to play all around it just to hide it. It’s just one of the ideas that I am trying to work with these days.

Read more from our interview with Sainer here.

Sainer. UPEArt Finland 2018. Helsinki, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Waone. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Kotka, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ukrainian artist Waone, of Interesni Kazki titled his mural “Spirit of Antique Book”.

“Reading the real book in the age of technology and internet may look rare and a kind of old fashioned, but not for me,” he says. “This mural ‘Spirit of Antique Book’ I dedicated to all book lovers. It represents the wonderful way to escape from ordinary life to extraordinary worlds, and depicts that magic moment when you read the book and lose yourself between the pages.”

BSA: Does it concern you that school children today are becoming unfamiliar with reading traditional books on paper?

Waone: Hmm I didn’t think about books in schools, in Ukraine we still use “normal” books… But I’m sure normal books will become more and more rare. I don’t judge it and I’m not saying that’s good or bad. I just love the book esthetic, a strong symbol of knowledge.”

Waone. UPEArt Finland 2018. Kotka, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Natalia Rak. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Joensuu, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Natalia Rak. UPEArt Finland 2018. Joensuu, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sepe. UPEArt Finland 2018. Jyväskylä, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

David De La Mano. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Jyväskylä, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

David De La Mano. UPEArt Finland 2018. Jyväskylä, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

David De La Mano. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Jyväskylä, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Helen Bur. UPEArt Finland 2018. Kotka, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Eero Lampinen. Work in progress. UPEArt Finland 2018. Helsinki, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Of his own work, he says, “It’s like a mix of fantasy with contemporary and realistic elements – kind of magic realism. I like to play around with fashion different types of characters.”

The characters are here in the evolving mural – three figures who are working the runways of the street in distinctly different styles.

“There is a night demon, a rubber-outfit person, and then an older character,” he says, “They are all walking separate ways in the streets – and it plays around with this street.”

Read more with Eero Lampinen here.

Eero Lampinen. UPEArt Finland 2018. Helsinki, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Eero Lampinen)

Pertti Jarla. UPEArt Finland 2018. Tampere, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Fabio Petani. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Salo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Fabio Petani. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Salo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Fabio Petani. UPEArt Finland 2018. Salo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

How & Nosm. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Lisalmi, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

How & Nosm. UPEArt Finland 2018. Lisalmi, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Leon Keer. UPEArt Finland 2018. Salo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Leon Keer. UPEArt Finland 2018. Salo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Robert Proch. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Joensuu, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Robert Proch. UPEArt Finland 2018. Joensuu, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Isaac Cordal. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Isaac Cordal made a number of interesting installations in Karakallio in Espoo, including a haunting series of small buildings attached on trees throughout the forest.

Read more about Isaac Cordal at UPEA Art Festival 2018 – Finland. Dispatch 3

Isaac Cordal. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Isaac Cordal. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Isaac Cordal. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Isaac Cordal. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Isaac Cordal. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Isaac Cordal. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

NOTE: No trees were damaged by installing the birdhouse sculptures on them.


All the participating artists on UPEArt 2018 are: Andrew Hem, Case Maclaim, David De La Mano, Eero Lampinen, Fabio Petani, Gummy Gue, Helen Bur, How & Nosm, Isaac Cordal, Jussi Twoseven, Kenor, Leon Keer, Mantra, Natalia Rak, Pertti Jarla, Robert Proch, Sainer, Sepe, Silja Selonen and Waone.

 

Read more
BSA + UPEA in Finland

BSA + UPEA in Finland

BSA is excited to bringing you new works from Finland next week as we explore Helsinki and nearby cities that are part of the UPEA 2018 Festival. A unique model of mural festival that invites international and local artists to paint across the entire country, UPEART has quietly entered the global Street Art and graffiti stage without entering the fray: providing top caliber artists with uncommon opportunities to create works in cities for a handful of years now.

Waone Interesni Kazki at UPEART (image © the artist)

The full line up for this year’s stellar UPEART edition is:

Andrew Hem, Case Maclaim, David de la Mano, Eero Lampinen, Fabio Petani, Gummy Gue, Helen Bur, How & Nosm, Isaac Cordal, Jussi TwoSeven, Kenor, Leon Keer, Mantra, Natalia Rak, Pertti Jarla, Robert Proch, Sainer, Sepeusz, Silja Selonen and Waone Interesni Kazki, who poses here yesterday with the mural he’s been working on for 10 days


To keep on top of the action on the ground and up on the lifts click on UPEA’s FB link below:

https://www.facebook.com/upeart/

Read more
Fabio Petani Combines Art, Nature, Chemistry in Naples

Fabio Petani Combines Art, Nature, Chemistry in Naples

O sciore cchiù felice (the happiest flower) 

“The happiest flower is the one that is able to have a secure foundation, to receive joy and nourishment.” We paraphrase the Italian muralist Fabio Petani about the name of his new piece in Parco dei Murales in Naples.

Fabio Petani. “O sciore cchiù felice”. Parco dei Murales. Napoli, Italy. April 2018. (photo © Fabio Petani)

He is speaking about flowers as a metaphor for children and families, and says that he took direct inspiration for this new mural from the observations of a group of youth who had been on a tour of this neighborhood and he observed the art and photography they created in a class after they went on the tour.

Petani says he took inspiration for the colors he chose, yellow and purple in particular, as these were the most photographed hues from the students. He says he also saw the geometry of the circle recurring so he used that shape as a formal pattern, repeated.

Fabio Petani. “O sciore cchiù felice”. Parco dei Murales. Napoli, Italy. April 2018. (photo © Fabio Petani)

Currently from Piedmont, Petani was born in 1987 in Pinerolo, Turin, Italy, and he says that his interventions are inspired by flora and he integrates the shapes occurring in nature with the geometric elements of the built environment.

He says he thinks his works are “telling a tale between art and nature through chemistry.”

Fabio Petani. “O sciore cchiù felice”. Parco dei Murales. Napoli, Italy. April 2018. (photo © Fabio Petani)

Fabio Petani. “O sciore cchiù felice”. Parco dei Murales. Napoli, Italy. April 2018. (photo © Fabio Petani)

Read more
BSA Film Friday: 07.21.17

BSA Film Friday: 07.21.17

bsa-film-friday-JAN-2015

Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.

Now screening :
1. Jessie + Katey Cover a House Completely in Massachusetts
2. Fabio Petani in Kiev, Ukraine
3. Ampparito in Walthamstow, North London
4. Chris Wunderlich in Portland: Painting with an overcast sky
5. The Future of Cities

bsa-film-friday-special-feature

BSA Special Feature: Jessie + Katey Cover a House Completely

Bringing art to the public sphere is dicey when you have to be on the run – but that is how some vandals self-style. Others think of the work as a big open-air craft project and are happy to engage with the public. During their month long residency in Allston, Massachusetts in May, Jessie + Katey covered an entire building on Western Avenue with colorful geometries. They’ve been transforming large public spaces with their projects for six years, and each site-specific art installation redefines the relationship between you and the location – often making both more engaged.

 

Fabio Petani – Kiev- Art United Us

We posted the images and some background of Fabio Petani’s new wall earlier this week (Fabio Petani and the Golden Light in Kiev for Art United Us) and now we have the sweet video to accompany it.

Painting with Ampparito in Walthamstow, North London

Spanish Street Artist Ampparito sits with Doug from Fifth Wall to talk about his singular image of a typical Spanish napkin that would be recognizable to his countrymen and countrywomen but not necessarily to people in this neighborhood. See him soon here when we bring you the action at Nuart in Norway this September.

 

Chris Wunderlich in Portland: On how it is much better to paint with an overcast sky

A strangely named architectural creation called the Fair-Haired Dumbell in Portland, Oregon also has the distinction of being a radically patterned double full-building mural under creation this summer. A quick talk with muralist Chris Wunderlich gives you insight into some of the logistics.

The Future of Cities from Oscar Boyson

For urban planners and designers and, well, the rest of us: A quick paced and riveting examination of the urban environment and how it is likely to change in global locations as cities become the place where the majority of human populations live.

Read more
Fabio Petani and the Golden Light in Kiev for Art United Us

Fabio Petani and the Golden Light in Kiev for Art United Us

The bright light of truth reveals things you may not have seen previously and Fabio Petani, the 30 year old Turin-based muralist is talking about it in Ukraine. The mural combines two elements often seen in his works – botanicals and geometric shapes. What is new is his use of bright colors by way of drawing attention to a specific element of this Malva plant which is typical to the region.

Fabio Petani “Fluorine (флуор) & Malva sylvestris” for Art United Us 2017. Kiev, Ukraine. (photo © Fabio Petani)

Daylight savings time was discovered in 1886, says Petani, and so was fluorine. (F) on the Periodic Table this element is the lightest halogen and it exists as a highly toxic pale yellow diatomic gas. “The translation of fluorine is флуор is from latin and means flow (flow of light),” the artist tells us. Now we understand better the flow of golden yellow light into this composition of the Malva plant.

Fabio Petani “Fluorine (флуор) & Malva sylvestris” for Art United Us 2017. Kiev, Ukraine. (photo © Iryna Kanishcheva)

“The composition runs around the central circle part where I also put the malva flower,” says Petani. “You can see a mix of layers that moves all the composition like a travel in other dimensions. All is inverted: the plant is black and each element creates a small world where the plant changes form.”

He says it is the first time he has used bright colors and he was encouraged by the bright golden color from the Ukrainian flag that indicates the bread basket of agriculture and the golden grains harvested. It was important to him to do something that the community would enjoy and he says he does as well. “And I love this wall,” he says.

Fabio Petani “Fluorine (флуор) & Malva sylvestris” for Art United Us 2017. Kiev, Ukraine. (photo © Iryna Kanishcheva)

Fabio Petani “Fluorine (флуор) & Malva sylvestris” for Art United Us 2017. Kiev, Ukraine. (photo © Iryna Kanishcheva)

Fabio Petani “Fluorine (флуор) & Malva sylvestris” for Art United Us 2017. Kiev, Ukraine. (photo © Fabio Petani)

Fabio Petani “Fluorine (флуор) & Malva sylvestris” for Art United Us 2017. Kiev, Ukraine. (photo © Iryna Kanishcheva)


The mural is a part of the public mural program Art United Us, curated by Geo Leros and Iryna Kanishcheva.

Read more
Fabio Petani: Painting The Periodic Table, One Wall at a Time

Fabio Petani: Painting The Periodic Table, One Wall at a Time

113, 115, 117 and 118.

Those numbers sounds like the weights of Miss Universe and her three runner ups.

They are also the four newest additions to the Periodic Table of Elements announced in January. They are so new that only two of them have been tentatively given names – ununseptium and ununtrium.

brooklyn-street-art-fabio-petani-italy-2016-web-5

Fabio Petani. Oxygen. Abandoned place. Italy, 2016. (photo © Fabio Petani)

For now Italian Street Artist Fabio Petani is staying with the elements that all high school chemistry students have grown to know and love (i.e. memorize and forget) in a series of geometric murals he has been doing recently. Oxygen, Sulphur, and Caesium all get their turn on a rustic, distressed, or neglected wall that is being decayed by the natural elements.

Favoring symbolism and abstraction, Petani arranges a handful of recognizable shape, lines, pristine text, and patches of ruddy color into a disordered harmony to create an illustration of one element at a time. The interaction of the components – some in more than one dimension, are understood only to him. Although you might guess what color he used for Cobalt.

brooklyn-street-art-fabio-petani-italy-2016-web-3

Fabio Petani. Uranium. Abandoned place. Italy, 2016. (photo © Fabio Petani)

brooklyn-street-art-fabio-petani-italy-2016-web-2

Fabio Petani. Caesium. Abandoned place. Italy, 2016. (photo © Fabio Petani)

brooklyn-street-art-fabio-petani-italy-2016-web-4

Fabio Petani. Sulfur. StreetAlps Festival. Pinerolo, Italy, 2015. (photo © Fabio Petani)

brooklyn-street-art-fabio-petani-italy-2016-web-1

Fabio Petani. Cobalt. Italy, 2015. (photo © Fabio Petani)

brooklyn-street-art-fabio-petani-italy-2016-web-6

Fabio Petani. 8bis – Iodine. Mistura Festival. Torino, Italy, 2015. (photo © Fabio Petani)

Read more