German artist Rafael Gerlach aka SatOne was recently in USA invited to paint a privately commissioned mural. The result is “OASIS“, a piece that intends to bring some colour and life to an otherwise dull residential neighbourhood in Arlington, Washington.
Not unlike the rest of SatOne’s work in recent years “OASIS” is a vibrant abstract piece that synthesizes complex emotions and impressions, often sprung from the places he visits; “In the long run, I feel that the energy that emanates from a project does not only come from the picture, but more the things, the impressions, the encounters that happen around it.”
“A few weeks ago I was commissioned to paint a mural in Washington DC. The building is located in Arlington, an extremely tidy, clean and almost sterile courthouse area which made an impact on me. That’s the reason I decided to leave behind something refreshing and eye-catching. The image of an oasis, isolated in a desert came to my mind that at least supplies Arlington’s inhabitants with a “visual habitat“.”
For SatOne, painting in an abstract way means to concretize something, a thing or a theme, and then disassemble it in such a way that the spectator is offered enough room to reinterpret the piece based on own experiences and beliefs. In other words, art should make you reflect and wonder, at least that’s the ideal.
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.
