Marko Franco Domenak, Peruvian artist, died: this is how he created “Moments”, a giant mural in honor of his daughter

Her name is Valentine. The artist represents her daughter as a giant and curious girl, immersed in an inspiring nature. She draws in her notebook, surrounded by an inhabited green environment: a snail, a butterfly unfolding in intense yellow, birds of very intense color. She and her biodiverse company force pedestrians to stop at the crossing of Jirón Natalio Sanchez and the 6 block of Arenales, the corner of the Cultural Center of Spain, which has a new mural. This time, we love the image not only for its tenderness and richness of detail, but also for its vibrant yet peaceful character.

Marko Franco Domenak has been working professionally making murals for 20 years, after graduating in Fine Arts. First it was the street, then in restaurants, private premises, at home. “About 10 years ago I had a very bad period, every thing I did they covered it up, they didn’t let me paint, they even covered the mural with mud. So I thought of leaving the public space and dedicating myself to painting in the houses of people who valued my art. And many business proposals with third parties came out“, remember. “That decision paid off for me, because I have been living from that for many years, maintaining a plastic arts company on a daily basis, taking murals to interested people and paying for this is an incredible thing in Peru.“, it states.

However, the pandemic hit him hard. And Domenak confesses that, initially, he considered the call of the Cultural Center of Spain for his urban intervention project Ventilated Art, as a way to recover. For him it was a risk, since he had not competed in painting contests for years. He had been a finalist in the Alfa and Romeo 2007, Cerro Verde 2009 and John Constable 2010 contests, dedicated to watercolor. In 2008, he won second place in Painting in the 2008 Mapfre contest. A decade later, he was encouraged to try again.

“So I sent myself with one of my most personal murals”, he points out. His sketch is an image that he usually paints at home: his children, the plants in his garden, the birds from the Mirones neighborhood that visit them daily. He made a sketch in which he felt that he conveyed his world in the most sincere way. Weeks later, he was chosen to be in charge of the CCE’s urban art project, which this week opens on its already traditional wall on the 6 block of Av. Arenales.

“In the project is the portrait of my daughter Valentina, but in reality I wanted to open the theme towards childhood, that moment in life when there are no worries and everything is creativity. When everything is virgin, naive, full of possibilities. And I thought that this spirit combined if I surrounded it with an invented nature. The truth is, at home we have a special space to be with my children, surrounded by many plants. The mural is not very far from our family reality”, affirms the artist.

With vibrant colors and a relaxed attitude in its model, the work embodied in the three-story wall of the Cultural Center of Spain generates enthusiasm in the viewer, a sense of well-being and encouragement to reconnect with life, a message that we urgently need in these days of pandemic uncertainty. Born in Sullana, in the La Perla del Chira Valley, Domenak captures the vital energy of the landscape in his work. “The Sullana Valley and its culture have influenced me a lot.”, affirms the artist. “The act of painting is a way of returning to my roots, of reminding people that this valley exists and, in the same way, that in my valley it feels like someone is carrying their flag.”, affirms this artist influenced by the themes and pigments of the ancient Moche artists, as well as the current northern potters, who in their workshops paint their gourds, the poto, the cojudito, with trees and people. “For me the experiential is very important. I don’t like to complicate myself, I paint the things that come naturally to me”.

Accustomed as we are to considering artistic work as fetishes or simple merchandise, Domenak’s work, and by extension that of urban artists like him, remind us that other attitudes towards art are possible. These are artists whose works are alive, because just as they are born in the public eye, there also comes a time when they decline and die, like all ephemeral nature. “For me, everything is ephemeral”, explains the muralist, who rightly baptized his work as “Moments”, as an attempt to capture what remains of each second that does not slip away. “YouI also paint formal work, in conventional supports. I know that a painting is a commodity, that it has a price and that I have to sell it. That’s what we live on. But there are things that cannot be sold. As an artist, one also has the possibility of living certain experiences for the love of art.“, it states.

“In particular, I like the ephemeral. I like to paint on the wall because it does not belong to anyone. It seems to me the most authentic, the most sincere. The wall gives you very different information than a canvas can. It is another time, another story, the street has a very different experience from the workshop. There is an expectation from the people who walk by and look at the wall, you create a special connection. As a painter, I like the wall to be my support.“, Add.

In addition to the huge mural “Moments”, Domenak is known for interventions in the historic center that have now disappeared, such as his murals in Jirón Lampa and the endearing tribute to Humareda painted in Jirón Azángaro, which was erased after a fire in the building. A work in which the artist graduated from the School of Fine Arts pays bohemian homage to the painter from Puno, whom he came to know. But most of his work can be seen around his house, in the Mirones neighborhood, where he has lived for many years with his family. Family and nature remains the theme: portraits of his children, huge bees, fantastic cats lurking from the wall. “I thought it was a good gift for Mirones to bring other types of messages. With this type of work, the neighborhood identifies, the environment grows, people care about the facade of their houses and their gardens”.

Certainly, it is difficult to reproduce the image from a sketch so that it reaches the dimensions of a three-story wall. To achieve this, for Domenak all resources are valid: the grids, technological applications, or the same information that the wall can provide. To start the work, he appeals to the roller supported by a long stick that allows him distance to draw better. The roller allows him to cover large spaces, he considers it a noble instrument, easy to find in any hardware store. It allows you to determine what to do with the strokes and color, while moving in the vast vertical space. When the surfaces are especially large, he uses an extender that allows him to reach the upper floors. But there is also a closer dimension to the mural, which allows both the public and the artist to interact with it. It is the space of details, for which he uses a brush.

In total, there have been ten days of work. Little Valentina has followed her father’s work in photos and videos that she reviews on her cell phone, however, she has not yet been able to see herself in situ, portrayed as an eight-meter-tall giant. “From what she writes to me, she is delighted”, says the artist who hopes to take it when the situation allows it. Domenak doesn’t know how long his work will shine on the wall, and it doesn’t bother him, because for him, as he has pointed out, the ephemeral defines his world. Although at the end of our interview, when he talks about love for the neighborhood and dedication to the family, he backs down. “Everything is ephemeral, except a few things”Add.

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