From the Queens Ledger:When Paola Belotti attended a barbecue that was hosted in the alleyway behind Maspeth Discount Liquors some years back, she was distracted by the graffiti covering the surrounding walls, particularly the atrocities on the back wall of 56-05 69th Street.
After befriending the owner, she volunteered to cover the graffiti and paint a simple picture on the wall, selecting a Tuscan landscape because, as she pointed out, Tuscany is the place that comes to mind when people think of wine.
After painting the landscape, Belotti felt there was too much green in the mural, so she added more details characteristic of the region: cypress trees, vineyards, terracotta pottery, a lemon tree, a little villa in the distance.
“I know Tuscany and I know what looks good in a big space like this,” said the native of Lake Como, Italy. “I have an idea in my mind, but during my work it comes together little by little.”
Belotti, a textile designer by profession, studied fine arts in Italy and paints only as a hobby, but her artistic skill is evident in the detail of her landscape mural. Certain aspects of the picture look almost three-dimensional.
“The colors are like Tuscany and it’s really like this, with the rolling hills,” she said. “Everybody has joked they want to be inside the picture.”
The completion of the mural took Belotti at least two weeks. She realizes all her hard work will have gone to waste if her painting gets defaced, but she remains optimistic.
“Who does graffiti? In some way they are artists too,” said Belotti. “I think when they see something nice, they will respect it…I hope.”
8 comments:
Wow this is a beautiful mural, I doubt anyone would deface it. She should be hired to do this in the area, she is very talented.
My money says that she is in for a very bitter surprise from the local denizens.
Nice mural and very nice thing for her to do, but unfortunately she is going to get the rose-colored optimism knocked out of her.
hey,she can paint on a wall i have in my back yard.. i would love someone to make it look less of an eye sore.
Graffiti 'artists' will leave this alone. However, the number of asshole thugs to artists ratio is 10:1. They dont care about art, they care about tagging their "turf" (because you know, they pay so much in taxes and work so hard to maintain it, they deserve to call it their own).
I'm sure some of the punk kids will be considerate enough to leave it alone, but there will always be one asshole with no respect whatsoever who will scrawl his tag in the white spot right above the artist's head. It's a beautiful mural Ms. Belotti. I hope I am wrong and the little shits leave it alone.
“Who does graffiti? In some way they are artists too,”
No they are not. Not in any way.
“Who does graffiti? In some way they are artists too,” said Belotti.
I think she's just trying to be polite/politically correct.
Graffiti is also art? Some of it is decent, but most of it's crap.
It's a MAJOR mental stretch to consider most of it "art". Like saying some 3 year old kid drawing stick figures has the same technical skills as Da Vinci.
“I think when they see something nice, they will respect it…I hope.”
That's the giveaway right there: "I hope." She doesn't want to believe it, but her "lying eyes" tell her otherwise.
But the city definitely needs more beauty! I'm tired of looking at ugly, overweight slobs on the train!
BEAUTIFUL!!!
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