NAPOLI – He didn’t make a perfect entry from the 10-metre platform or nail a reverse one and a half somersaults from the 3m springboard. Instead, Napoli’s own David Rummo went for a big splash with the paintbrush at Mostra d’Oltremare Swimming Pool during the Napoli 2019 Summer Universiade diving competition.
Prior to Napoli 2019, the 22-year-old was tasked by the organizing committee to create a painting about the Universiade, more specifically about the sport of diving.
For seven scorching-hot days, under the bright Naples sun, Rummo meticulously worked at his craft at pool side as passerby regularly stopped to take photos of the young artist and his creation, which will be donated to the sporting venue.
“I showed my first painting to one of the leaders of the cultural events, Yorgos Makrydakis, and he suggested I do a painting about the Universiade. He suggested I do something about diving, and since I like diving, I was happy with that. I was inspired by the Diver of Paestuma,” said the history student from University of Naples Federico II, who previously spent one year at Academia di Belle Arti di Napoli.
The Tomb of the Diver is an archaeological monument, built in about 470 BC and found by Italian archaeologist Mario Napoli in 1968 just south of the Greek city of Paestum in Magna Graecia, in what is now southern Italy.
“I can’t tell you how many people stopped to take pictures, but yes, it’s many. It’s been a very fun week for me,” Rummo said moments after a young Korean woman took a few moments to ask him about his creation… and then politely asked if she could snap a souvenir.
Rummo explained that his painting style is conceptual, and that this particular piece was very personal to him.
“For me, what’s important is not only the aesthetic. I’m able to paint something that is realistic, very beautiful, but also tells a deeper story than this. I think the most important thing in a work of art is the conceptual aspect. This painting is not only of a diver, it’s the symbol of the competition.
“As you can see, the diver is very, very thin. So it’s also a concept against anorexia. This is personal for me, because in my past, I suffered from that disorder. So I see this painting as part of my social responsibility. Like the diver in competition, the people who suffer from anorexia can overcome it if they put their minds to it.”
These concepts are reflected in Rummo’s work.
“Like the body, which is very thin, my brushstroke is thin. Like the water, my brushstroke is full of movement and colours. I put many hours of thinking into everything I do.”
While you won’t find David Rummo’s name in the Universiade record book, there is no doubt his painting will be part of the Napoli 2019 legacy.
For seven scorching-hot days under the bright Neapolitan sun, David Rummo meticulously worked at this painting pool side during the diving competitions of the 30th Summer Universiade. This work will be donated to the sporting venue.
