After participating of the Without Frontiers event in Montova, Italy about a week ago (here), Italian muralist Fabio Petani is back with Fluorine (флуор) & Malva sylvestris and his signature imagery, created for the always amazing street art project ArtUnitedUs in Kiev.
As explained by the artist, the work is composed of two conceptual elements. On one hand we have the image of the Malva or Mallow, a plant native to Ukraine, on the other a chemical element called fluorine (the 9th element in the periodic table) discovered in the 1886, the same year the daylight saving time wasn’t observed in Ukraine. The translation of fluorine into Ukrainian is флуор which in Latin and means flow (flow of light), being light another common element between the two.
The composition revolves around the circle in the middle of the composition where we also find the Malva flower. The composition is characterised by a series of layers that according to Petani that make reference to the idea of travelling into another dimensions. In Petani’s depiction everything is inverted: the plant is black and each of the elements in the composition create a small world where the plant changes form.
“I seek harmony by the colours, by the composition, by the contest. The work have to live with the building and with the people who looking it.”
His murals express a fine balance between organic forms, geometry and lettering, always adding patches of earth colours into a composition characterised by a strong symbolism.
His work makes use of delicate natural shapes and the symbology of natural elements such as chromium, platinum, americium and so on. Nothing seems to be random in Fabio Petani’s work. There is always some kind of connection between the depicted elements in his paintings and the composition, incorporating the numbers of the elements and even the colours when they apply. Each of these elements, chemical or part of the flora, is somehow connected to the environment or context they were created in.
This is also the reason why he decided to introduce bright colours into the composition, as a way to connect it to the Ukrainian flag and the Ukrainian people, and of course as form for change for change’s sake.
Here are a few images by the artist and Iryna Kanishcheva co-curator of the ArtUnitedUs project.
Fabio Petani was born in Pinerolo in 1987. Throughout his rich artistic career, he has experimented, not only on the numerous commissioned murals, even on paper, canvas and alternative media. In this exhibition, some works on wood will be shown to the public for the first time, a material that enhances the subtle yet strong relationship between abstraction, nature, and chemistry that make him easily recognisable.
About the project
Art United Us is an international project that collaborates through artistic and creative mediums with communities to raise public awareness and attention to the problem of war, aggression and violence. The project started in Kiev, Ukraine in the beginning of the year, is planning to complete 200 walls during the next 2 years through out the world and without boundaries. Art United Us is curated by Geo Leros and Iryna Kanishcheva.
ArtUnitedUs on website | facebook | urbanite
Still curious about Fabio? have a look at 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.
