"La trouvaille de Mesvin" / Iconosaïk by Refreshink
Location of the work: Rue Brunehaut, 33 - 7022 Mesvin
Refreshink (Giovanni Magnoli) was born in Arona (Novara) in 1971. After leaving graphic design school, he began work as a screen printer, and became an expert in the field. He then took the plunge into freelance work.
His creative career really took off in the early 1990s, when he became interested in writing and started creating graffiti. Over the years, Refreshink has developed a distinctive style, challenging and moving beyond the traditional stylistic features of graffiti (letters, characters, puppets) in search of more complex techniques and languages. His experience of derelict places prompted him to paint - and reinterpret - subjects inspired by the natural world.
His first "Cockerel" dates from 2009, and is recognisable among the other striking animals painted in bright colours, drips and dense material, alongside which the artist juxtaposes formal elements such as geometric figures and inscriptions. Proud looks, expressions that are sometimes aggressive but never resigned, monumental formats seem to make us reflect on what it is to "be human”. Refreshink's works - whether on a wall, canvas or other media - capture and depict the primal energy of nature: explosions of materials and open lines contrast with geometric and closed shapes, creating a fascinating atmosphere, an inviting and dynamic dialectic interplay on the painted surface.
2022 saw the launch of Iconosaïk, a project to revive the ancient art of mosaics, updated and reinterpreted in a Pop Art style.
Refreshink (Giovanni Magnoli) was born in Arona (Novara) in 1971. After leaving graphic design school, he began work as a screen printer, and became an expert in the field. He then took the plunge into freelance work.
His creative career really took off in the early 1990s, when he became interested in writing and started creating graffiti. Over the years, Refreshink has developed a distinctive style, challenging and moving beyond the traditional stylistic features of graffiti (letters, characters, puppets) in search of more complex techniques and languages. His experience of derelict places prompted him to paint - and reinterpret - subjects inspired by the natural world.
His first "Cockerel" dates from 2009, and is recognisable among the other striking animals painted in bright colours, drips and dense material, alongside which the artist juxtaposes formal elements such as geometric figures and inscriptions. Proud looks, expressions that are sometimes aggressive but never resigned, monumental formats seem to make us reflect on what it is to "be human”. Refreshink's works - whether on a wall, canvas or other media - capture and depict the primal energy of nature: explosions of materials and open lines contrast with geometric and closed shapes, creating a fascinating atmosphere, an inviting and dynamic dialectic interplay on the painted surface.
2022 saw the launch of Iconosaïk, a project to revive the ancient art of mosaics, updated and reinterpreted in a Pop Art style.
I think the connection between my 'Iconosaïk' work and the "L'Art habite la Ville" project happened immediately, especially with the themes of the "salt route" with the "Roman" period and the local peasant traditions.
I learned all this information from Baptiste Fiore and the “L’Art habite la Ville” project team and we worked together on a design recreating a typical peasant scene.
The work takes the form of a Roman mosaic, and it will be fun (and also interesting) to present it as though it were an archaeological find. So we'll have a historical, cultural and also ironic message."
