The feigned mural that The Santi’s Workshop has practiced, it is, has been, and will be an illusionist challenge. From the beginning I try to break the space out. The intention is to create a false space that brings light and color to a specific place. The known effect of “breaking” the wall. But it is also an option to create content within a wide, open and empty space. It is like painting outwards or inwards according to the needs of the space. And the reason is the argument.
Feigned “Balcón Aerostático”, oil on two shutters, 2005
From the point of view of the trade, the artistic and aesthetic proposal is not as important as it is implicit. It is the spatial effect united and in combination with the emotional proposal provided by light and color. That is, in my opinion, the mural of the first motivation of the fake. And always look for consistency and balance.
Making the fake Balcony, 1982, enamel paint on wardrobe doors
They are works that, because of their support assimilated to a building, enclosure or fixed environment, have to endure the passage of time and tastes, assimilating equally. With the feigned mural I don’t pursue a fashion, but the timeless. And this is done by creating a similar and positive environment with the cultural and aesthetic environment. Respecting the cultural environment above the fashions and temporary tastes. Even being influenced and inspired by the environment that will surround the resulting work in the future.
Feigned mural, Balustrade 1987, oil on canvas adhered to the wall, 220×300 cm
Wall fake references
Referents for The Santi’s Workshop are the muralists of the past and present that I admire for their trade and originality. From the masters of the Renaissance to Jose Maria Sert through the Mexican muralists and to many of the current street art artists. They all have in common that challenge with space and plane. That is, modeling with light and color to create the desired motif, effect and feigned.
“Vision of Naples”, Jose Maria Sert 1942, Private Collection
Behind all this there is much drawing (disegno), and the works of the Renaissance make it clear. The feigned mural of architectural perspective is very demanding. After the knowledge he had of the Italian wall paint works, Velázquez sent in 1658 the fresquistas Michele Colonna and Agostino Mitelli. Habían trabajado juntos y ampliamente en Italia. Mitelli was in charge of “designing” the feigned architecture and Colonna gave life and movement to the scene. Unfortunately it remains a project drawn but that did not happen. Mitelli passed away in Madrid in 1660. After them Lucas Jordan and the school of Madrid, especially Claudio Coello and Palomino, continued with the craft and art of the feigned architectural in the baroque Madrid of the seventeenth century.
Perspective for the Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo da Vinci
Feigned mural, in or out.
In a feigned wall painting space rules, sets the conditions. The extension, the perspective, the direction of the ambient light, are the conditions. And if we want the feigned to work, it will have to adjust as closely as possible to the conditions.
Architectural fake in Peralta de Alfocea, Huesca, 2017, silicate paint, on mediator wall
And that is the interesting challenge for the artist who must compose and execute the work. Well, the feigned murals are finged realism painted (trompe l’oeils) on vertical surfaces. Therefore, the effect sought is to give continuity to the space surrounding the work. This effect can be for outside or for inside.
Drawing and color generally work the other way around depending on the effect of zooming in or out. The most vivid colors are visible. On the contrary, the cold and gray move away.
“Old merchant walker wardrobe”, oil painting on four doors, 1998