Internationally acclaimed muralist David de la Mano has unveiled “Sea Skin,” a striking new mural in the heart of Salerno’s old town, commissioned by the Alfonso Gatto Foundation. Known for his monochromatic style and symbolic human figures, de la Mano once again blurs the boundaries between the individual and the collective, creating a piece that resonates deeply with the spirit of the city and its relationship to the sea.
Painted on one of Salerno’s historic facades, Sea Skin stretches across the wall with rhythmic balance and fluid movement. The mural depicts the face of a woman, her features dissolving into a constellation of ships, sailors, and drifting silhouettes. The artist transforms her skin into a living surface where memories, stories, and generations of maritime life converge. Each fragment of her form carries a narrative of journeys made, storms endured, and those who have watched the horizon waiting for safe return.
De la Mano’s muted palette of blacks, greys, and whites reinforces the emotional depth of the work, emphasizing texture and shadow over color. This simplicity magnifies the visual poetry of the mural, allowing the viewer to focus on the delicate interplay between human memory and natural movement. The absence of color becomes a statement in itself, mirroring the timelessness of memory and the cyclical nature of the sea.
The Alfonso Gatto Foundation, which has long promoted art as a vessel for poetry and urban renewal, commissioned Sea Skin as part of its ongoing effort to bring literary and visual culture into Salerno’s public spaces. The mural aligns seamlessly with this mission, as its silent narrative feels almost lyrical, a poem painted in waves and silhouettes.
Far more than an aesthetic gesture, Sea Skin stands as a metaphor for resilience, femininity, and the interwoven fabric of coastal life. De la Mano’s woman is not an individual portrait, but rather an embodiment of shared memory, her face shaped by centuries of salt, wind, and waiting. The piece invites passersby to pause and reflect on their own connection to place and to history.
Through Sea Skin, Salerno gains not only a new visual landmark but a work that speaks to the rhythm of life by the water, to stories that ebb and flow yet remain etched in collective memory. With this piece, de la Mano continues to expand his visual language of empathy, turning urban walls into spaces of remembrance and quiet reflection.
Source: StreetArt - streetartnews.net
