Peeta: Urban Mirage

Venice-born graffiti artist and sculptor Peeta (Manuel Di Rita) has completed a 2,000 square foot illusionary mural, Urban Mirage, on the exterior of the historic Akron Civic Theatre. The theater is located in downtown Akron, Ohio, in the United States. It joins Peeta’s other recent commission in the US, in Boston, Massachusetts; as well as others in Europe in Ingolstadt and Hamburg, Germany; Le Locle, Switzerland; and another soon to be completed in Rome, Italy.

The project was funded by entrepreneur and art collector Richard S. Rogers who, along with his wife Alita, has supported several ambitious public art programs in the US Great Lakes region including The Ohio & Erie Canal Coalition, Akron, Ohio; Curated Storefront’s Contemporary Arts District, Akron, Ohio; the FRONT Triennial for Contemporary Art, Cleveland, Ohio; and The Akron Art Museum, Akron, Ohio. “We are excited to bring an artist of Peeta’s skill and reputation to Akron. It is only fitting that the Akron Civic Theatre be the location of this grand mural,” said Rogers.

The commission was managed by the nonprofit organization Rogers founded in 2016, Curated Storefront, which focuses on public art as an economic driver to help rustbelt cities transform their downtown districts. The organization is currently working on a new sculpture garden for Akron, Ohio’s reimagined Lock 3 Park. It contains work by Chakaia Booker and other internationally acclaimed sculptors and is in part funded by VIA Art Fund.

Peeta has been a graffiti artist since 1993 and is currently living in The Netherlands. He is a member of the EAD crew (Padova, Italy), FX and RWK crews (New York City) and, over the years, has participated in festivals and art shows around the world. His work explores the potential of sculptural lettering and anamorphism, both in painting and in sculpture. He is known for his anamorphic approach using perspective angles and shapes to transform a two-dimensional surface into a dynamic space with depth.

“The Urban Mirage mural creates an illusionary, dreamlike quality to the urban environment, making the Civic Theatre appear different than it actually is. It evokes a sense of wonder and enchantment. By seamlessly blending the building’s architectural elements with dynamic, sculptural forms, my intention is creating a captivating 3D illusion that challenges our perception of space,” said Peeta.

This mural, which faces Akron’s Lock 4 park, continues the Akron Civic Theatre’s public art strategy developed as part of its “Staging the Future” capital campaign. Peeta’s inclusion in the campaign was a result of the Civic Theatre’s convening of a public art committee in 2019. The other artists with murals on the Civic’s facade as a result of this effort are El Mac, Aise Born, and Ouizi (Louise Jones). Also painted on the exterior is the Lock 4 Jazz mural by Michael Ayers. Howard Parr, Executive Director of the Akron Civic Theatre, said, “This new artistic asset is the critical mass element that brings this public space together.”