Argentinian street artist Franco Fasoli aka JAZ is currently in Kiev, Ukraine for the Mural Social Club: Back to School! project that has already hosted internationally renowned artists like French artist and co-curator of the festival Julien Malland aka Seth, Portuguese artist Pantonio and Israeli KLONE.
Franco’s mural was painted on the wall of Gymnasium #267, located in Darnitsky district of Kiev and depicts a symmetric composition showing a couple of felines painted in a cold colour palette of blues, greens and pinks. The image is activated and connected by adjacent semicircular lines in the midle of the composition, this connection is not only physical, it also represent a dialogue between the felines and therefore the idea of communication. The result is almost hypnotic. Franco explains the meaning of the mural as follows:
“For me personally it was a kind of a challenge, because I am an artist, who embodies the ideas of confrontation and collision on his images, but this time the environment changed me and switched the idea of confrontation into the idea of communication, using one of my signature symmetric images. I reflected a dialog between wild felines in a forest, speaking to each other the language, which can be understood only by them. In their case it is interpreted through the strips on their skin. The communication and connection through a kind of signals, without any words and, in my case, this experience was similar to a dance. Being a Spanish speaker I am trying to communicate with the local environment and to feel the people’s emotions, related to my art-work. This time the choice of colors was a key for connection with the environment. The common colors in the people’s clothes, buildings and cars. The use of namely this pallet in the mural allowed to merge harmoniously with the environment at the other level.” – Franco Fasoli
The mural was made possible thanks to the support of the Darnitsky district Administration and volunteer movement DaDobro, a public open, noncommercial volunteer movement.
About the artist
Born in Buenos Aires, Franco Fasoli‘s career started as a graffiti writer in the streets of his hometown in the mid 90‘s. Since then, he has developed over the years from a letter based style to a more complex and figurative style. Inspired by his work in scenography, Fasoli started experimenting with several quite unusual materials such as asphaltic paint, petrol, tar and lime which allowed him to create his very own technique for mural painting that results in a watercolour-like luminescent but transparent effect. Through motives like lucha-libre-style wrestling or hybrid creatures like minotaurs that many times occur mirrored or aspart of a mass he is dealing with Argentinian culture and the issues that come with it. Usually they are locked in combat and attest to metaphoric violence or the bipolarity of the human mind. This is also reflected in his new technique with paper collages. Being able to develop new techniques without losing the strong nature of his vision is what makes Franco Fasoli be respected and successful in the art scene (source).
About the project
Mural Social Club is an International Festival of Contemporary Art in the public space with the mission to make art accessible for everybody. By supporting social and cultural initiatives of residents of different cities they aim to promote a decentralisation of the urban culture of the country through the creation of artworks on the outskirts of the capital, as well as in smaller towns.
This year’s festival has been curated by French street artist and activist Julien Malland aka Seth Globepainter, who along with Oleg Sosnov, managed to curate an exciting line-up including top street art names from Italy, Spain, USA, Ukraine, Portugal, France, Russia, Chile, Peru, Brazil, all of whom are coming to Ukraine to decorate the cities with their artwork. Apart from murals and installations, Mural Social Club Festival also sees a number of indoor exhibitions, as well as an extensive educational program featuring workshops and seminars by renowned street artists.
The festival is organised and initiated by NGO Sky Art Foundation. More info on: skyartfound.com
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.
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