Omar Hassan — “Exit Light” (Malpensa) | Cinematorgaphy by Vitaly Kazanin

At Terminal 1 of Milan Malpensa Airport, artist Omar Hassan unveiled “Exit Light”, his largest canvas to date—an imposing 2 × 9 meter work created for a long-term public exhibition at the airport’s dedicated art space. Conceived for a place defined by transit, departures, and returns, the piece celebrates color, identity, and movement—a visual statement that resonates with the airport as a living crossroads of stories and journeys.

This film documents the making of the work through a deliberately dreamlike and restrained approach. The brief asked us to go closer to the surface—to the fabric, gestures, pigment, and rhythm—while avoiding a full reveal too early. That constraint became the language of the video: fragments, textures, and calm observation, allowing the viewer to feel the scale and presence of the painting without turning it into a spoiler.

A key part of the visual strategy was to make the viewer almost “touch” the piece. For selected shots we used a Sony 70–200 macro to achieve ultra-close, high-detail close-ups—the kind of proximity that’s difficult (or simply impossible) to reproduce with more conventional lenses. Those micro textures—pigment, weave, and subtle surface relief—become narrative elements, reinforcing the intimate side of a monumental work.

The result is a quiet, immersive portrait of process—built around pace, detail, and atmosphere—mirroring Omar’s artistic nature and the tension of the challenge itself: producing a monumental canvas within real-world constraints, knowing it would live in a public space for months and speak to thousands of passing viewers every day.