Italian street artist Manuel Di Rita, also known as Peeta, was recently in Lauderdale, Florida where he painted one of his amazing anamorphic compositions. The project was commissioned by Broward County Cultural Division and produced by Monochronicle.
“Heron”, as the mural was titled, is according to Peeta an “old” project, designed and planned for 2020, but never carried away that year because of the pandemic.
The new mural combines Peeta’s fascination for sculpture, perspective and painting, giving shape to a piece that aims, as the atist himself explains, to establish a dialogue with the structural and cultural parameters of the surrounding context, either architectural or not.
This is how, in order to provide an artistic sense of place for Port Everglades visitors, Peeta decided to celebrate the elements that characterize this particular area by selecting colours, shapes and other elements that seem characteristic for the city . At the same time, he wanted the composition to stand out and to create an element of surprise, breaking the rigid architectonic structure of the park-site building.
The main element at the center of the composition is a white bird, inspired by the shape of the majestic Great White Heron, unique to South Florida. The bird in the design is interpreted from a sculptural point of view and 3D effects create a plastic illusion of art installation. The white heron bird is also typically seen either roosting on one leg in mangrove trees, or feeding in tidal flats at dawn and dusk. This is precisely how Peeta “captured” it. Great whites are year-round residents of Florida. They breed year-round, with November through February as the peak season – during this time the artist was painting the mural.
Fort Lauderdale is known for its extensive network of canals connected to the Atlantic Ocean. Running and rippling water play a major role in the design where the movement in the composition connects ground and sky. The blue of the water at the bottom is intersected by white and orange lines, the former reproducing the trails of lather produced by waves, the second representing sun reflections on the sea. The particular shade of orange is inspired by the colour of the sunset in Broward County which is also the one of Port Everglade logos.
A collection of shapes typical for a port area or for the deck of a ship can be seen in the background, outlining the new silhouette of the façade until the building mingles with the sky, losing its structural limits. The shadows make the objects look like they are floating on a suspended in space, opening the existing structure to new planes and deceiving the observer’s perspective by providing a new and indefinable depth to the composition. A good example is how Peeta visually erases the corner of the building giving the property another look and dimension.
About the Artist
Manuel Di Rita, also known as Peeta, is a graffiti artist since 1993 currently living in Venice. He is a member of the EAD crew (Padova, Italy), FX and RWK crews (New York City) and has participated, over the years, in festivals and art shows all over the world. His work explores the potential of sculptural lettering and anamorphism, both in painting and in sculpture.
Images by B4flight Films
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.
