Swansea University Art Collection

One Short Stride by David Carpanini

Born in 1946 of Welsh-Italian parents in Glamorgan’s Afan Valley, for decades Carpanini has painted the landscapes, mining towns and people of his homeland.  

One Short Stride is quintessential Carpanini. Against a backdrop of terraced workers’ houses and a swirling, bruised sky, four young men stop for a moment to face the viewer. The painting’s title suggests a short walk, but to where?

 Although solidly representational, his pictures speak eloquently of abstracts - fear, isolation, and survival. They are set in Wales but the statements he makes are not confined to the Welsh valleys, the feelings they evoke are international. The faces are proud, self-assured, optimistic enough: Carpanini’s not asking us to pity them.