The Art of Skiing presents Mauro Baio
The Art of Skiing is a project in which Cober strongly believes to show the important but underdeveloped union between art and sport. This project, born in 2020, will see the collaboration between Cober and several artists. Cober will choose each year an Italian artist of the contemporary sphere, who will interpret two seasons (winter and summer) with works of art commissioned by Cober, using media of his/her choice.
The works will be chosen by Cober, with the help of the artist, to create clothing and more, reflecting the spirit of this collaboration.
The first artist to interpret the project is Mauro Baio, an artist from Lecco, born in ’91, who created oil on canvas paintings for Cober, interpreting the winter 21/22 and summer 22 seasons for the company. The works (Red & Blue N ° 5, Blue Landscape N ° 4, Desert Landscape N ° 3) created exclusively for Cober, have subjects inspired by the world of winter and the world of summer.
“When I paint I try to think about life through my experiences, not art. What I want to express is a mere compositional and chromatic harmony ”- Mauro Baio
The goal is to best express the composition of the image. The greatest influence comes from David Hockney’, particularly his perception and representation of reality. His way of expressing himself in the 60s, with the simple and effective message “less is more“, is the first point of reference for the artist. Like him, Mauro thinks that each person has a personal vision of the world, or at least that everyone decides to see the one that best suits their interests. This is what the artist does when choosing a subject.
“The reality I want to see is shaped by the contrast of Colours in Light and Shadow. In a certain sense, I also bring light into the shadows. I cultivate an irrepressible passion for colours, I focus on the study and the relationship that one colour has with another, since a colour can only be defined when combined with another”
The theme of mountain as a pure ethics of life made up of contrasting perceptions. The sacredness and the power of an almost uncontaminated natural environment. The artist’s favourite way to deal with these environments is skiing, which in itself is an art, the art of drawing lines on a white canvas. The monumental and desert environment of snowfields and glaciers offers contrasting sensations.
“Feeling tiny but at the same time big in covering these uphill distances fighting on the snow and putting your life on the line, because the mountain is majestic, sacred yet one of the most unpredictable and dangerous natural elements.”
The seriousness of the project is linked to the practice of ski touring every weekend, when Mauro approaches it with friends, with all due respect for the mountains.
“Every week I fill my photographic archive, but every week this environment wants to disappear.”
Mauro’s work consists in the search and selection of images from the experiences lived by him or by others.
After the selection of the images, begins the phase of digital sketches to have the final piece defined in every aspect, from the shape, to the size, to the proportion, and up to the colours. Then he begins the execution of the oil paintings exactly as they were designed, without excluding the possibility of moving from the initial idea during the this phase.
The approach is very meticulous and the artist works on each artwork with the utmost care and attention.
The materials’ choice is also very important, from wood for the frame, to cotton and plaster for the canvas and, finally, the most important element, the colour, made up of very high quality pure pigments.
