The artist Jupiterfab and his eponymous non-profit association are engaged in publicand institutional projects with a focus on communities and human beings. These projects primarily take the form of paintings, large-format murals, and sound installations, often combined into a single work.
In the last 8 years Jupiterfab has lived in Barcelona, Rotterdam and Toronto, and has collaborated with art galleries in various countries as well as a number of public institutions, such as the Court of Justice of Rotterdam and the University of Toronto. His visual works are realistic and contemporary, and their main subjects are always human beings. His self-taught background, thorough observation of urban life, and anthropological perspective are reflected in his works, which mix realism and expressionism in a unique and deeply personal painting style, depicting the feelings and emotions underlying ordinary actions.
Under the title “Communities’ human identity,” the artist has developed a number of projects designed to emphasize the importance of both diversity and the individual in an increasingly globalized world. The aim is to highlight how each community has something which sets it apart from the rest, in terms of its territory, culture, habits, rituals and, last but not least, people.
“In the City: from Black and White to Color” emphasized how people live in urban areas, showing the contrast between the harshness and commotion of the city and human feelings. We are too concerned with ourselves, following consumerist messages and superficial needs, to realize that we are surrounded by other people with emotions. We tend then to protect our feelings and vulnerabilities, putting on an “urban mask”.
It is 2 years Jupiterfab is working on a project about Poblenou, named Nowpoblenou.
NOWPOBLENOU focuses on individuals who are living and working in Poblenou, who have an intimate connection with the neighborhood as a physical place. The aim of the project is to show the uniqueness and character of a neighborhood that has managed to preserve and build a particular energy in the face of dramatic change.
The project began in 2013, when interviews with several residents of the neighborhood were conducted, including young and creative professionals who had moved to the area to work, as well as older people who have lived in Poblenou for most of their lives. In addition, Jupiterfab has painted large-scale black-and-white murals depicting the faces and gazes of interviewees, which embellish abandoned areas and visually imbue the physical space with the personality of the community.
The team is now in the midst of shooting a documentary they plan to screen at international independent documentary film festivals. The main character is the neighborhood, Poblenou, its character and its uniqueness, shown through the eyes and the words of some of its inhabitants, who were selected among the people we had been interviewed during the first phase of the project.
Moreover, the opinion of some urban anthropologists, activists and people who had been evicted by their own houses conceptualizes the historic and unique period Poblenou is living in the last years.
