David de la Mano was born in Salamanca in 1975, where he graduated in Fine Arts before focussing on Public Art for his PhD at the University of Valencia. From 1993 onward, De La Mano has worked extensively in urban public space, and developed his trademark style during numerous international projects. Relying predominantly on harsh contrasts of black and white, his reductive and increasingly emblematic paintings centre around narrative and symbolic figuration. David de la Mano is a contemporary artist known for his meticulous brushwork, his knack for large scale, almost systematic use of black and white, and his minimalist human silhouettes. With his original training in sculpture, he has focused his interest on public art, to which he has naturally and immediately integrated urban art, becoming one of the most important artists in this discipline.
His work is made up of characters taken from great poetry that do not leave anyone indifferent. Through each piece, he works to transcribe his vision of the world around him, in the most personal and symbolic way possible. Between shadow and light, playing with shapes, contours and contrasts, David de la Mano gives birth to a world of perfect balance, where human beings and nature, always intrinsically linked, merge and then stand out, in perpetual motion. In addition, it stands out for its exploration of new spaces, supports and materials such as open or invisible spaces, permanent and ephemeral supports, and diverse materials such as urban furniture, or elements of nature.
The Spanish artist with a very unique universe has nothing more to demonstrate of his virtuosity, and each of his frescoes around the world confirms it. For Mehdi Ben Cheikh, director of Galerie Itinerrance, “David de la Mano’s work is as relevant on the street as it is in galleries, and it retains all its power from one place to another”. The artist has developed numerous projects in Spain, Norway, Italy, Taiwan, the United States, Poland, England, France, Finland, Tunisia, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Portugal, Holland, Germany, etc … and exhibits his works in private homes or in art galleries around the world. David de la Mano’s painting focuses primarily on the importance of social ties, primarily through the representation of human figures evolving in groups, often facing an obstacle or threat. Take advantage of the evocative power of silhouettes to stimulate the imagination of your viewers.
The project “Under the Skin” was finished painting and mounting on December 5 on the third floor of the European Parliament in Brussels, created with MDF and assembled from different parts that generate scars in each of its limits.
The work shows a growing sequence of confrontation and I accompany its presence with this poem by Miguel Hernández:
“…For freedom I detach myself with bullets
of those who have rolled his statue through the mud.
And I break free from my feet, from my arms,
of my house, of everything.
Because where some empty sockets dawn,
she will put two stones of future look
and she will make new arms and new legs grow
in the cut meat.
They will sprout winged sap without autumn
relics of my body that I lose in each wound.
Because I am like the felled tree, what a sprout:
because I still have life.”
“Man Lurks” 1937-1939
Miguel Hernandez
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