The third edition of the Ragusa based street art festival Festiwall kicked off last week inviting a selected group of artists with the main purpose to beautify the city and transform the local community. One of these artists is Spanish Sebas Velasco who painted a new mural titled “Il Suonatore Gino.”
The festival, a week-long event that includes live music, installations, street-art and workshops, inspired Sebas to pay homage to the city and its cultural soul by honouring Giorgio “Gino” Nobile, owner of Magic Music, the only vinyl record store in Ragusa.
According to the artist, he was looking for some music by Fabrizio de André when he entered Gino’s store. After meeting him, Sebas realised how important this man has been for the city dedicating his life to “let the others to listen” inspired by the lyrics of “Il Suonatore Jones” by de André.
The result is a wonderful portrait of Gino surrounded by of the records the artist found at the store depicting him as the sound maker he is. Not unlike the rest of his work, the new mural was created using a photographic and expressive “brush stroke” that reveals the artist’s academic training and technique. His works are an invitation into everyday moments where strangers, and familiar figures, are caught in specific moments and where darkness plays an important role in the composition. Stunning piece.
Images by Photo by Marcello Boccheri and Sebas Velasco
About the artist
Sebas Velasco. Photo: Geo Leros
Sebastian Velasco Navarro aka Sebas Velasco, born in Burgos, Spain in 1988, began painting graffiti in 2004 in his hometown. After a while he decided to move to Bilbao where he graduated in Fine Arts at University of País Vasco (UPV/EHU) and later Masters Degree in Painting from the same institution. It was during this period that his style was in many ways defined.
As mentioned above, Velasco’s style is characterised for an intimate approach to his characters, they are caught in a moment of intimacy and portrayed against the darkness and melancholy of the city. The style could remind us of the nocturnal paintings of Rembrandt were the main characters invade the viewer space, and vice versa, making us become part of the scene.
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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.
