Author Archives: Chus

Trebbio: Dualities of Nature

Posted June 27, 2024 by Chus

Commissioned by “Pro Loco Trebbio”
Date: June 2024 – Size approximately 320 square meters – Located in Sansepolcro, Italy
Medium: water based wall paint and solvent based spray paints

These murals for “Pro Loco Trebbio” were painted in June 2024, over a period of 2,5 weeks.

It is so far my biggest project and has been quite a challenge in every step of the way.

These two murals contain a collaboration with a locally born artist, Franco Alessandrini, who lives between New Orleans, Louisiana, and the town of Sansepolcro in Italy. He contributed with sketches of the word “Trebbio” that I incorporated in the central part of the two designs.

Franco is an incredible artist and his work is really dear to the citizens of Sansepolcro. He inspired many painters from the town, including myself, therefore it has been a great honor to collaborate with him and challenge myself into reproducing his style with my skills.

A few words about the project and concept

These two murals depict Nature in two of its many aspects: agriculture, or a nature tamed to the will of men and the wilderness of spontaneous plants and wild animals.

For me Trebbio is a lovely balance between these two aspects. The two depicted women are allegories, personifications of these aspects of Nature, complementary to each other and mirrored. They can be seen as the Greek goddesses Demetra of the cultivated fields and Artemide, hunter goddess of the woods and wilderness.

The designs for the two writings “Trebbio” has been kindly provided by the artist Franco Alessandrini on request of the commissioner and other locals and I did my best to incorporate it smoothly in the artworks.

The wall about agriculture contains a picture of the local priest, who deeply cared for the area and was loved and respected by many of its inhabitants: don Duilio Mengozzi. He is also considered a hero for his contribution, during World War II, to saving Jewish families. He helped them escape from the Nazi occupiers across the nearby river. The fox in the “wilderness wall” is meant to represent don Duilio’s bravery and cunning.

My father was born in this area, he and my grandparents used to live there as farmers with the rest of the extended family in a big countryside house. When we were kids he used to take us on bike tours there, and I have vivid memories of everything Nature: the golden ears of wheat, the fragile poppi flowers, the sweet mulberry’s berries and the perfume of chamomille flowers.

As a teenager I used to go there with friends and take artsy photos in the sunflower fields, bumping into wild animals was a common occurrence.

All these impressions converged into this artwork that is about a place and its nature, but also about my family and my roots. The farm house depicted in the “wilderness wall” is the house where my family used to live and my father was born. A painting of it was hanging in my grandparents’ living room.

Details of the murals

a detail of Chus’s agriculture mural — Agriculture mural, detail

a detail of Chus’ agriculture mural — Agriculture mural, detail

a detail of Chus’ wild nature mural — Wild nature mural, detail

Work in progress

Concept and mockups

Franco Alessandrini’s sketches

Many thanks to Pro Loco Trebbio, to Franco Alessandrini and all the sweet people that came by with food and drinks, or just for a chitchat.

The marching band

Posted March 31, 2024 by Chus

Commission for Filarmonica E. Brazzini
Date: March 2024 – Size: 10x11meters – Located in Pieve Santo Stefano, Italy
Mediun: water based wall paint and solvent based spray paints

The association “Filarmonica Ermanno Brazzini” from Pieve Santo Stefano commissioned this painting to celebrate the over 300 years of history of the town’s marching band.

The artwork represents an allegory of Music directing the marching band through the town streets among the joy of local kids.

Work in progress photos

Before and after

Project and Sketches

Hey, I am currently updating this website and as you can imagine it’s quite a time consuming task!
I am planning to add further information describing the mural and the making of process to all my projects, stay tuned 🙂

Lesina: Life of the Lagoon

Posted June 22, 2022 by Chus

Commission by “Centro visite Lesina”
Date: June 2022 – Size approximately 18×7 meters – Located in Lesina, Puglia
Medium: water based wall paint and solvent based spray paints

Making of video

It doesn’t happen every day that a professional documentarist makes a video of you working on a mural.

Grazie mille Ferdinando.

Details

About the project

I am very proud of this mural as it’s my first commission for a building’s facade.

am also proud of the fact that was because of my sketches and concept that the musuem won the grant that allowed various improvements for the center, including the mural.

A few words about the place:

Lesina is a small town on the South-East cost of Italy, its pretty alleys and facades don’t face directly the Adriatic sea though, but the green waters of Lesina’s lagoon, a special and really delicate echosystem of freshwaters surrounded by a little forest thriving with wildlife.
The shallow lagoon hosts birds and fishes, but the queen of the green waters is the eel.
The surface for the mural is the facade of the local museum of the lagoon, called “Centro Visite”, regularly visited by schools. At the time of my visit it contained an aquarium with various species from the lagoons, and further sections were dedicated to biology, wildlife and to the history of the lagoon, to the fishermen, their practices and the life in the fisher settlements near the lake.

The design:

When I was asked to present a sketch in order to apply for a grant I was given total artistic freedom, but I felt compelled to draw inspiration from the local nature. I took some time to study in depth the biology of the area, flora and fauna. I collected images of my favorite birds and plants in a document, I then started sketching them in a composition that would have movement and dynamism to break the stiff monolithic feeling given by the facade.
My aim was to use composition and colours to make the freshwater of the lagoon meet the saltwater of the sea. In this meeting point different animal and plant species meet and interact.

The protagonists of the scene are a red heron and a pink flamingo, mirrored and embracing the building’s main entrance. But many other species of land and water animals are represented, including the eel, one of the most important animals for the lagoon and the fishermen. From the sandy shores the landscape turns into a low and wild forest were land animals find shelter.

Production and challenges:

Production of the mural took approximately 10 days, and it hasn’t been devoid of challenges: starting with a proper seaside storm that hit the town on the first day, followed by the lack of a tall enough scaffolding until the fourth day and discovering upon my arrival that what from the photos looked like a concrete wall was in fact marble deeply carved in a grooved texture, which forced me to rethink totally the way I was going to approach the wall and the materials to use.

The design:

Production and challenges:

The design:

Production and challenges:

I would lie if I said it wasn’t tough, but it was also a great learning experience in many ways. And besides these issues the painting went smoothly, and was really enjoyable and fun – I love painting animals and organic compositions with elements from nature. The locals have been really sweet keeping me company and taking good care of me, hosting me and lending me a bike that allowed me to ride til the nearest cafe for an espresso break every now and then.
What was frustration for not finding the tools and materials I needed (and had asked for) from the beginning, turned into understanding. I understood what it means to live a different and slower lifestyle, typical of Southern Italy. And maybe I learned to take it easier as well sometimes.

I definitely left a bit of my heart in the town of Lesina and, although it’s a long drive from my parent’s hometown in Italy, I already went back a couple of times to say hi to my mural and some of the sweet people I met when I was working there.

Work in progress

Photo of the artist Chus working on his Lagoon mural — Chus working on “Life of the Lagoon” mural

"Life of the lagoon” mural by Chus, work in progress photo — “Life of the lagoon mural”, work in progress

Big thanks to Ferdinando and Giacomo from Centro Visite for involving and trusting me, to the Maselli family for being the best hosts I could wish for, and to Miriam and Debora for the fun and welcoming company.

Terra

Posted September 9, 2018 by Chus

Collaboration with Ivan Tresoldi
Curated by CasermArcheologica as part of the project “Narrazioni” involving three other artists.
Date: September 2018 – Size approximately 20×5 meters – Located in Sansepolcro (Italy)
Medium: water based wall paint

The work

Realised in collaboration with Ivan Tresoldi from Artkademy as part of the project “NarrAzioni” produced by CasermArcheologica and paid by Anas.

This was my first ever large scale mural and my biggest ever collab with another artist, quite an exciting project indeed.

It was spring 2018 and I was in touch with CasermArcheologica asking for advice on how to do public art in Sansepolcro, my hometown. At the time they were in the early stages of producing and curating a project, that later was named “NarrAzioni”. Three artists painting two big walls below the freeway’s overpass, the “threshold” that any visitor of Sansepolcro would have to go through upon arrival by car.
So they decided to invite me to be the fourth artist and to collaborate with Ivan Tresoldi on one of the walls.

The collaboration with Ivan went smoothly from the beginning, he chose to let me come up with the main concept. His specialties are calligraphy, lettering and words, he was willing to let me lead the project.

I wanted this mural to be about the relationship between nature and human, with nature in the focal point and the human element on a secondary level.
In order achieve this I chose as protagonist an oak tree next to a wheat field. Far in the distance we see the Appennini mountains. The composition is an imperfect symmetry, divided in three sections: the middle panel contains the scene described above, while the two side panels contain more graphical representations of an acorn and an oak leaf, each embraced by a platonic solid, perfect geometric structures. A third platonic solid, the cube, is surrounding the oak, without being able to fully enclose it.
A man accompanied by a dog, probably a pilgrim walking the camino of San Francesco, stops for a moment and looks up, wondering while the lettering of Ivan Tresoldi gives dynamism, movement and depth to the whole composition.

Making of video with interviews (in Italian)

The project is documented in the following video made by Low Party Production:, the artists painting the opposite wall are: Lisa Gelli and Nic – Nicola Alessandrini.

Symbology

For years I have been fascinated by the oak tree. It’s hard to explain, but the way its branches curve and twist have always attracted my eye, just like the detailed shape of its leaf, that is different for every leaf as for every tree.

The Oak tree has had important roles in pagan religions and cults, and I thought this worked well with the sense of divinity I wanted to transmit with the artwork.
I highlighted the acorn and the leaf, the first is the seed that generates new life, the other is what produces energy for the plant, which is essential, but it’s also important that it falls when the time comes.

The abstract geometries of the platonic solids are a reference to Piero della Francesca, local renaissance painter. He loved mathematics and geometry and wrote a compendium of books on the subjects, that later was translated from vulgar to Italian by his apprentice Luca Pacioli and included in “De divina proportionae”, a compendium illustrated by Leonardo da Vinci himself.
This reference to famous local renaissance men has another symbolic meaning to it: geometry as an attempt of the human mind to explain, quantify and contain nature. The result is harmonious and pleasing, but geometry cannot fully contain life and nature, therefore the branches of the oak escape the embrace of the cube.

For the ancient Greek philosophers these shapes were associated with the elements of nature, and here I chose the elements that better represent the Tiber Valley, where Sansepolcro is located: air, water and earth, with the latter as the most prominent one, symbolized by the cube and giving the work its title: “Terra” is earth in Italian.

Color palette

Blue and yellow are often connected with Sansepolcro. Colors associated with divinity in christian iconography.They are among the hue combinations decorating the renaissance costumes and uniforms of the “Sbandieratori”: travelling acrobats that juggle with flags.

Blue and yellow are also a reference to the “Via Francigena”, a quite popular camino that passes by Sansepolcro. It’s meant to trace the steps of San Francis on his way from Florence to Assisi. The camino is marked with a blue and yellow sign on trees and stones along the way.

Although I have never walked the camino myself I had deep and life changing encounters with some of the pilgrims.

Ivan’s secret language

As Ivan was contributing with his letters to the mural I kept looking at them and wonder what was he writing.
Towards the end he gave me sort of a decryption key: he pointed at a word and said “there it says ‘terra’, there it says ‘chus’, do you see it now?”
Some of the letters are slightly twisted, but once you learn that it becomes pretty easy to read the words. They are all inspired by the artwork, by nature, by the idea of collaboration and friendship, adding further layers of meaning to the painting.