“Meaningful Moment” is a surrealist mural by Ukrainian artist Vladimir Manzhos aka WAONE recently painted for the District Walls project curated by Artwhino in Washington DC.
I remember the time from the first years of Design school when we were asked to draw everything except what we saw; sounds, feelings, whatever our other senses could perceive. A wonderful exercise of abstraction that in some ways seems to be applied or imagined by Waone in this new mural. As explained by the artist, he wanted some time ago to paint “some “abstract” surrealistic stuff without characters or realistic objects”. “Meaningful Moment” represents the realisation of that wish.
Of course, it is difficult to paint an surrealist mural without recurring to some kind of figuration, so some elements from the real world are to be found. In Waone’s mural the different characters seems to be abstracted, taken out of a dream and inserted in a halfway figurative world which could remind us of some of the Bauhaus experimental films.
If you are lucky enough to be around you will find this mural on 829 Rock Creek Church Rd NW, Washington, DC.
Author: Fran
Founder and editor of Urbanite. Street Art lover who after the finishing her MA thesis on the Mexican and Norwegian muralist movement in the 1920-50s, developed a fascination for street art and graffiti that eventually led to collaborations with different art blogs, including the creation of this one.
Absolutely love this.
Am obsessive about surrealism, I like to think of it as what you see when you close your eyes but you’re wide awake.