Medianeras
FROM
Barcelona, Spain
Vanesa Galdeano and Analí Chanquía have been creating art in public space for more than 14 years. United by shared concerns for urban space and public art, they began producing work together 9 years ago. They created a unifying project called “Medianeras,” a Spanish word for “side walls.” Unlike walls, which only have the task of separating spaces, side walls are those shared between neighbors. The artists believe that public art, in addition to making cities more beautiful, claims the idea of a shared place, through public art, in fact, they want to alter the urban landscape and change the way we normally perceive spaces.
Traditional wheat cycle in Sicily
Inspired by Vittorio De Seta’s documentary, Parabola d’Oro, the work pays homage to our land which has always been, since Roman times, the granary of the Mediterranean. The artists portray a young woman, Southern in her facial features and style of clothing, in an imaginary dialogue with an ear of corn, a powerful symbol of an entire ancestral world. The woman’s face is painted on the right wall, the ear of corn is painted on the left wall, and a street in the center. The rigor of the proportions in the divided spaces also incorporates the street and our perception makes this interrupted design perfectly unitary, giving it a third dimension of interpretation precisely in this imaginary space that opens between the parts. Sowing the wheat, waiting for it to ripen, harvesting it and transforming the grains into the precious flour are not only tiring and glorious work, but above all a great adventure of the soul. The wisdom of farmers comes from caring for nature, from knowing the timing of the seeds, from the joy of the harvest. Ultimately our life is also this: sowing and waiting for the harvest.