World renowned Australian chalk artist Jenny McCracken became the first Australian to win the coveted title of “Madonnari” at the 40th anniversary of the world’s original street painting festival, Incontro Nazionale dei Madonnari, held in Italy on the 15^th of August.

Competing against 146 artists from Italy, Germany, France, Japan, Mexico, Peru, USA, Korea, North Africa and Australia, Jenny walked away with top honours in her division for her work titled Assunzione Della Grazie after impressing the judges with her original design, technique and skill of anamorphic perspective.

“We are going to Italy, where the story of pavement art began, and I’ll be competing for Australian artists to be recognised among the best. If I manage to achieve the title of Madonnari, I will be the first Australian to hold it.” Jenny commented prior to the competition.

Held in Grazie di Curtatone, Italy, the famous pavement art competition pits competing artists against each other in a two-day long marathon art extravaganza, dubbed the “Olympics of Street Painting,”  which requires stamina, a strong mind and a fit body. 

Working over a period of 24 hours, each artist is given an 8-by-10-foot plot of pavement in front of the Santuario Madonna delle Grazie church on which they are required to produce a work of art using chalk or pastels.  The subject of the mural must be religious and must follow the theme of the original Mandonnari.

The art of creating murals on asphalt began in 16th-century Italy when artists began creating chalk murals on pavement. The original artists were known as “Madonnari” as they drew pictures of the Madonna on the street.  Many of these original artists were itinerant soldiers who had no work when they returned from war; they took to the streets begging for coins for the artworks they produced. The tradition of the “Madonnari” was revived in 1972 when the Italian village of Grazie di Curtatone hosted the first known festival of street painting.

There are 3 levels to the competition in Grazie.  While Jenny has won the title of Champion Pavement Artist twice in Australia, she came in to the competition in Grazie as a novice in the “Madonnari Semplici” division. She now enters the next level “Qualificato”, the next step will be to win that division to become a “Maestro”.

Jenny was accompanied by a film crew who will make a documentary of her journey to be screened in 2013. With her on the trip was Chalk Urban Art Festival founder and director Andi Mether, and filmmakers Claire Balart and Shaun Flaherty. The documentary will be edited by Rodrigo Balart, who is currently working on Oscar-winning director James Cameron’s latest project – Deep Sea Challenge.

Click on the slide show to see images of Jenny competing and images of her winning work