"Good Luck, Kid"

Artwork painted for KIRK Gallery‘s “Out In The Open" festival.

About his mural Joe Iurato tells the following:
"Because I work with stencils, creating a mural at this scale is well planned out ahead of time and calculated precisely. A lot of the work for it happens in my studio prior to arriving at the wall. After I’ve conceptualized and illustrated the artwork, I need to scale my composition up to actual size and create the templates. The stencils for the mural are cut from sheets of paper that form the individual sections of each layer. Then, when I’m on location, I reassemble them on the wall in tiles, like a puzzle or grid, and spray. This step is done repeatedly, typically 5 or 6 times per mural to give the piece depth and details.

When I saw photos of the wall early on, the very first thing that grabbed me was the obvious metal vent that runs the height of it. I love to create site specific works and saw the feature as an opportunity to have my painting interact with its environment. So, rather than try to work around and compete with the pipe, I became very excited with the prospect of working with it. And that became the starting point for the story I wanted to tell.

A common recurring theme in my work are the wondrous, curious and mischievous adventures of childhood. Things get so serious and difficult as we get older, sometimes I need to step back and away from my present self and revisit a simpler time. Right now, it’s easy for me to achieve because I watch my own children and their friends as they are growing up. They are often the subjects and inspirations for the works. In this case, the kid climbing the building is my youngest son, Maddox. Overstuffed backpack full of essentials and a monocular fashioned of cardboard, he’s off to somewhere. Where? I’ve no idea.”

If you visit Aalborg, follow the church bells to city center until you reach a children’s playground, turn around and look up ;-)