Street Painting Artist: Kurt Wenner

Conceptual to Renaissance Art

People have been sending photographs such as the ones below as forwards with the subject: “Are these real?” as I receive one the other day.

I went and looked it up, and found that they are, these are works of an American Artist called Kurt Wenner who once worked in Nasa as a renderer of the space images. He moved to Europe for a while after that job and ended up learning the art of street painting, which is done with a chalk/pastel.

He uses a Baroque technique from the 17th century where architecture blends with the painting called Anamorphism, and then translated it for sidewalk viewers.

Very cool.

It had been over 500 years since the last pope visited the city of Mantua, Italy. In order to celebrate Pope John Paul II’s arrival, Wenner was commissioned to design an original composition based on the Last Judgment theme. The work, 75’x15′, was executed by 32 artists under Wenner’s supervision. The Pope, aside from wondering why there were so many souls in hell, was greatly impressed by the work and signed the mural.

Q: Are you disappointed when it washes away?

A: I am always aware of the impermanence of street painting. Wind, sun, dirt, and rain constantly remind me as I work of the very fleeting nature of this type of painting. All day long, as I’m creating a new part of the picture, I can see the finished parts already fading. It’s a challenge to retouch the picture and keep it fresh for spectators. I’m not disappointed when the painting washes away because street painting is performance art, it’s very much like attending a symphony. When the music ends everyone leaves with a memory of the music. My work is the same except one is left with a visual impression. And much like musical recording helps preserve a moment, I photograph my paintings when they’re finished.

Kurt Wenner’s Homepage