When we first heard from Spanish artist David de la Mano, he was just wrapping up a mural at Djerbahood Street Art festival, one of the world’s largest. Since then, he’s been to Madrid, Cardiff, and Wales- home to his latest mural with Sheffield based muralist and artist Phlegm. He has also painted murals in Montevideo (Uruguay), Sadnes and Stavanger (Norway), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Lima (Peru) and Florida, just to name a few. De la Mano doesn’t consider himself a “street artist”- he’s first and foremost an illustrator with work in the street. In his own words, he’s an “explorer of human behavior”, represented in masses of people, their conflicts, and visual contradictions. Stylistically, they look like the charging warriors on ancient Greek pottery, or traditional silhouette portraits of the late 18th century. He prefers urban and rural areas where there are interesting abandoned spaces. These spaces are part of the overall design. In one, the warm sunlight shines through his figure’s chest, where in another, figures take flight from the corner of an old window. Although site specific, the drama of his monochromatic imagery also provides a sense of mystery. Take a look at his most recent work below.
