#wowsacramento

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March 16, 2019

“NISELI”

by Jorit Agoch

“With the exacerbation of nuclear tensions today more than ever there is a need for atomic disarmament.” —Jorit Agoch

Jorit Cerullo, aka Jorit Agoch, paints like someone who has been perfecting his art for countless decades, but in reality the twenty-something artist only started painting graffiti on the walls of Naples, Italy around 2005. While never completely abandoning graffiti, Jorit was influenced by the work of his countryman Carravagio and began to focus on realistic depictions of the human face, marking his portraits with the red lines of ancient African rituals indicating the passage from childhood to adulthood, and as a symbol of our shared humanity. In 2017 Jorit created this work near J and 12th streets in Sacramento for @WideOpenWalls as a statement about US hypocrisy on the topic of nuclear disarmament.  @jorit/

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“ALL CHILDREN OF AMERICA”

by Herakut

There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” —Nelson Mandela

In 1995 Mandela launched launched his Children’s Fund with these words, citing the wrongs of the past and need for care, respect, and love in future actions, policies, and institutions. Apparently the message may not have been heard by some outside South Africa.... In 2018 German duo Hera and Akut joined the cast of artists participating in the 2018 edition of Sacramento’s Wide Open Walls Festival. Set against the background of a mother and infant California Grizzly Bear—now extinct and a sad symbol of endangered species—Herakut’s R Street contribution is offered as a condemnation of the increasing number of children lost to gun violence, but might just as well also apply today to the incomprehensible national shame of child separation at the border.  @herakut/  @hera_herakut/  @akut_herakut/  @wideopenwalls/

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“GODDESS OF SACRAMENTO”

by Charmaine Olivia

Raised in Southern California by spiritual parents that introduced her to yoga and meditation at a very early age, Charmaine Olivia began oil painting at age 7 and says she has been a professional artist since age 17. Spirituality, mysticism, and mythology remain strong influences and she “uses painting as a means to explore the other dimensions of mind and thought.” For the 2018 edition of Sacramento’s @WideOpenWalls mural festival Olivia added this dramatic goddess piece in the middle of Downtown Commons, the stay, live, dine, and shop complex adjacent @Golden1Center basketball and event arena.  @charmaineolivia/  @docosacramento/

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“LUNA’S DREAM”

by Guido Palmadessa

Born in Buenos Aires but now based in Berlin, Guido Palmadessa focuses on the social component of art, painting in marginal neighborhoods around the world and running an art project in “creatively needed contexts” in South America. Raised in “the street art generation” but building on an academic foundation Palmadessa navigates between oil painting on linen, black and white illustration, and large scale public works, seeing art as “a bridge that communicates people and creates community.” As part of his larger “Migrant Dreams” project Palmadessa was in Sacramento in 2018 for the @brandedarts curated @wideopenwalls festival and added “El sueño de Luna” on Alhambra Blvd behind @TeachForAmerica.  @guidopalmadessa/

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March 15, 2019

OAK PARK, SACRAMENTO

by Waylon Horner

Preferring to avoid any direct message or meaning behind his images, Sacramento artist Waylon Horner’s goal is to create something of visual and psychological interest, but ambiguous enough for viewers to draw their own conclusions. Horner’s work reveals a world both bizarre and mesmerizing and amidst the chaos of his compositions he says the hardest part is just knowing when to stop. Horner spent more than 100 hours creating this piece in 2017 at 34th and Broadway in Sacramento’s trendy Oak Park neighborhood. Painted for the @brandedarts curated @WideOpenWalls festival the mural was tagged within weeks, but has since been restored.  @waylonnnn/  

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April 17, 2019

“METAMORPHOSIS #2”

by Tavar Zawacki

Born in Northern California but now based in Berlin, Tavar Zawacki made his way back to Sacramento, California to paint “Metamorphosis #2” while also busy preparing to debut his solo exhibition “Metamorphosis” at @Urban_Spree in Berlin. Painting graffiti since the late ‘90s, Zawacki kept his identity secret for most of that time, working under the pseudonym “Above,” and @BKStreetArt reports that this J Street mural for @WideOpenWalls was his first painting under his birth name. “I was prepared for feeling uncomfortable during this “metamorphosis,” he says, as he not only let go of the pseudonym but also opened himself to exploring new styles and letting go of the old—which begs the question then of whether this impressive 3D composition is being unfurled on the wall, or being peeled off and covering the arrow which has long been his trademark.  @tavarzawacki/

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“DIGITAL AGE”

by Apexer

Now spreading his talent far beyond his San Francisco home, Ricardo Richey, aka Apexer, is part of Bay Area’s Gestalt Collective engaging in collaborative murals and embracing the philosophy that their work as a whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts. Sacramento’s @WideOpenWalls describes Apexer’s colorful, abstract spray paintings as “mind-tickling patterns that create optical illusions”—which, curiously, also seem to fit well with Gestalt psychology, described on @Wikipedia as exploring “the laws behind the ability to acquire and maintain meaningful perceptions in an apparently chaotic world.” This colorful portal was painted on J Street for the Sacramento festival in 2018 and if you think the mural conveys a trippy sense of motion, go to Apexer’s Instagram page to see an animated version and be fully transported.  @apexer/

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January 11, 2019

“HOGAR”

by Paola Delfin

From the time of her childhood in Mexico City Paola Delfin says she always had pencil and paper in hand to help her visualize the world. After experimenting with illustration and canvas she discovered the excitement of painting on walls and sharing her thoughts with a broader audience, and mural painting’s ability to fulfill her other passion—traveling and experiencing the world. In 2018 her travels took her to Sacramento where @WideOpenWalls invited her to share her visual expressions on the side of 21st St music venue Holy Diver. With an estimated 1.6 billion people in the world without homes, and more than half a million just in the United States, Delfin painted “Home” to give voice to the approximately one-quarter of those living in California, invisible to many and judged by others, all of whom have a story to tell and are deserving of being seen and heard.  @paola_delfin/  @holydiversac/