Russian artist Marat ‘Morik’ Danilyan is one of the international artists participating on this year’s FestiWall in Ragusa, Italy for which he painted this new and stunning piece.
Painted in an intersection of Ragusa, the mural feels as saturated, complex and at the same time soothing as the locating it has been painted at. A juxtaposition of memories from earlier trips to Italy. In his own words:
“Italy in general and Sicily in particular has always been fascinating me. Often times I create murals that are not directly connected to the country they are in. But this time I felt it was important to have this link.
Growing up in one of the coldest regions in Russia we have been exposed to an Italian culture through books and old films. It was very important for me to step further than the stereotypical image they have created. That is how I came up with this almost collage-like mural that showcases that juxtaposition of those and my own up to date observations I took when I travelled to Italy in the recent years.
The subject of the mural is a man going to a fish market. I was drawn by the brutality and violence of the pescheria. I have paired it with the picture of the asphalt I took at the airport on my way to the festival. This mix of retro and new, the cliché and perceptive is what make Italy a very special place and what I wanted to show in my mural”. – Marat Morik
Photo by Vinny Cornelli
About the artist
Born in 1982 in Novosibirsk, Marat ‘Morik’ Danilyan is a street artist from Russia whose life has been dedicated to art since he was a kid and attended the local art school for children. Later in life he earned two bachelor’s degrees in philology and economics from the Novosibirsk State University, but decided to fully dedicated his life to art. It was in 1998, with the popularisation of the Internet in Russia, that Marat learned about the hip-hop culture and developed a passion for graffiti.
In his recent works Marat pays great attention to patterns and the experimentation with different techniques and materials on different surfaces. His versatile art comprises both figurative and abstract compositions, sometimes mixing abstraction and realism with expressionism and typographic elements. In 2011 he established the First Graffiti Agency (FGA) together with Andrey Aber.
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.
