For this year’s edition of LuceFest, in the small village of San Pietro Magisano in Calabria, Italy a hyper-realistic and hyper-impressive mural was painted by the artist Slim Safont.
The aim of the festival, which took place from August 28 to September 6, is to give a new face to degraded or abandoned landscapes in this region, but also to create a synergy between those involved, including the organisations, artists and residents. By embellishing streets with art, they hope to increase the number of visitors, making the city and the landscape around it better known in Calabria and beyond.
Only three hundred and sixty-four people live in the village of San Pietro; two of which the artist has depicted in his beautiful work — namely Giada and her grandfather. Whenever Slim arrives at his destination, he researches, observes and photographs the environment and likes to engage in conversation with the locals.
Among all the stories he collected, the one that caught Slim’s imagination the most was that of Giada and her grandfather, a man devoted not only to the Calabrian lands, but above all to his family. The girl on the painting, whom Slim has brought to life with coarse brushstrokes and very refined color nuances, stares into the void with her gaze, as if she remembers the moment when the photograph she held in her hands was taken. The photo shows little Giada next to her grandfather Tonino. The man plans to weave his panari: a hand-woven basket and a true symbol of tradition and craftsmanship. He was a pillar of the family and the town, as well as a figure of inspiration for the young people, who adored him. It is an intimate scene, made possible by the technically expressive power of the young street artist.
Nil Safont, better known as Slim Safont, was born in 1995 in Berga, Barcelona. At the age of twelve he entered the urban art world. In 2016, after attaining a Fine Arts degree at the University of Barcelona, Slim changed course to a career far from the institutional classrooms and closer to the everyday lives of people in the very places where he works, delving into them for inspiration. Safont’s works decorate several cities in Spain, but have also reached several cities in the United States, Italy, Belgium, Russia, France, Belarus and Kosovo.
The interesting thing about Safont’s style is that his works are actually large-format paintings, that use the walls of the streets as canvases. His realistic style can be compared to late 19th and early 20th century painting. At this point in the history of art, painters began to let go of the realistic representation of reality and were beginning to show what the base material for their paintings actually was: paint! With Safont also, little is denied or obscured anymore — the viewer can actually see the paint, the large brushstrokes and even the mixing of colors on the canvas as well. This gives his painting an extra dimension: one sees not just a realistic scene but also the rendering and the use of materials.
As I said before, the artist did not have a precise idea, but was inspired by the words of those who lived in the small village and we know from the words of the artist himself that this work has a special place in his heart, because the bond between the depicted people reminds him of his bond with his own ‘abuelo’. This mural is a gift for this wonderful family that welcomed me into their home as one more member and for all the people of this beautiful town who treated me so great.
Slim Safont: website | instagram
LuceFest: website | instagram
