Sebas Velasco x Art United us in Kiev

Spanish painter and muralist Sebastián Velasco Navarro aka Sebas Velasco is currently in Ukraine where he recently finished this incredible piece for the Art United us project in the city of Kiev.
Curated by Waone from Interesni Kazki, Iryna Kanishcheva and photographer Geo Leros, the new mural is a good example of Velasco’s work characterised by a confident brushwork and solid composition often giving a glimpse about everyday life in a mostly urban environment. The artist explains the meaning of the mural as follows:

‘About meaning is difficult, as I don´t always paint things which are very conceptual or very narrative in the sense of a beginning and end. Thus, the interpretation is pretty much open for the viewer to decide. Somehow it can be like something which can generate different stories.It could be just like a daydream of the character i painted. However I can tell you that Kiev was really inspiring. Wall, with all the architectures, the letters, the different lights and colors in the night, which i found very suggesting. I used photos i did from the hotel, and I go back with good ones for studio work. Then the guy who invited us over to dinner. So is just a way to say thank you. But it could be anyone. Just that i found more interesting to paint someone from Kiev rather than my friends. In the process i decided to include to put this line over the face. Again is open to the viewer to decide, but it could be like a continuation of green the neon you see behind. Then you can read everything you want. Light and shadow, light over shadow, inspiration, whatever. It´s also a way to give a more abstract level to the composition and make the viewer wonder what´s going on…, or create some lack of comfort. For me painting is not only about meaning but about the way is done. About the marks of the brush, the use of color, the line, density, texture, all that things. In this sense I enjoy a lot the realistic painters from the beginning of XX century. Paint itself is very alive on them, further than the image itself. One of those would be of course Ilia Repin (Chugúyev 1844), and it was so nice to see his paintings “in flesh” in Kiev….I also discovered Mykola Pymonenko.’

Sebas Velasco Website | Facebook | Instagram

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.

Twitter Facebook

Please follow and like us: