2023 Surf Art Calendar
May
“Happy Girl”
By: Vincenzo Ganadu
STORY BEHIND THE IMAGE
Happy Girl, is a painting that is part of a series of works (about 20) created to consecrate the beauty of women in the water in the practice of surfing. Here in Sardinia where I live and practice surfing, the number of girls who practice this sport has increased over the last 10 years, including the quality of women's performance. This series is accompanied by a series of large portraits of the most important female surfers in history, from the 60s to the present day, an ambitious project that aims to enhance women in surfing.
PERSONAL CONNECTION
I have not personally met Vincenzo, but I share is admiration for women in the water and their beauty on the waves. Having traveled to the island of Sardinia in Italy once before, I immediately connected with his inspiration and I am very grateful for the opportunity to share his work with you.
ARTIST BIO
Vincenzo Ganadu was born in Sassari, Sardinia in 1973, where he graduated from the Institute of Art. He then specialized in Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna and Sassari, going on to teach Sculpture Techniques at the Academy of Sassari in 2001-2002. He has collaborated with a number of artists including Pinuccio Sciola, Vittorio Calvi and Angelo Pilloni and his works have been exhibited in public and private galleries.
In addition, he has been the subject of numerous exhibitions both in Italy and abroad along with his commitment to creating murals, which led to him having a central role in the creation of a large-scale work in Lima, Peru.
During the 1990s he discovered surfing in Sardinia and, together with this discipline, an artistic current that over the years has led him to travel and work all over the world, and becoming well known for the colors and dynamism of his paintings in doing so. From Guethary and Biarritz in France, where he held his first surf art exhibitions, his works have created considerable interest as well as getting good reviews in the leading surf magazines, including Surf News in Italy, Surf Session and Surf Trip in France, The Surfer’s Path in England and Australia and Fluir in Brazil. Since 2002, his paintings have been exhibited in Los Angeles and later in Hawaii and the American exposure later led to him being approached by the Warner Bros film company which had chosen some of his pieces to be used in a number of film sets. In 2008 his paintings were displayed in Brisbane, Australia, and later at Noosa Head, one of the many surfing homelands. His surf art has thus enchanted champions, journalists, surfers and simple ocean enthusiasts.
Website: https://www.surfartganadu.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vincenzoganadu/
