At a very young age, Andrea Piccioli already has behind him a dense history full of adventures, in which art gives face to emotions, creates bonds and always gives birth to something new.
How did you come to art?
I started drawing at a very young age, partly because it was the only way my parents had found to keep me quiet. When I was 8, I was struck down with an autoimmune disease and had to spend a year in hospital; during that time, art helped me a lot: I drew, read, listened to music, watched films. It was then that I fell in love with Miyazaki and started dreaming of writing and illustrating stories. I haven’t stopped drawing since and I do it all the time, either as an activity in itself or as a simple pastime, maybe while I’m at a club with friends. You could say that I have been doing it professionally since I was a child, because I already sold some works in middle school.
Did you have any specific training?
I studied at art school, so I was able to learn about the art world and develop different techniques. I used to spend weekends drawing and painting on the street with one of my closest friends. We would put on some music and make drawings, even in collaboration. I would then sell them for free, because I could not evaluate my own work, so I would ask others to do so. I was confronted with the world and received great encouragement from it, I met many new people who are still part of my life today. From there I received commissions for murals, shutters, events, exhibitions and live performances. I am very passionate about the latter, because I am especially interested in the relationship with the other. In my teenage years, I started to create my own increasingly defined aesthetic, in a quest that obviously still continues. At that time, I started working on faces, representing my moods, the set of emotions I felt. I try, in short, to give a face to my feeling, to have a more real relationship with it.
Art is therefore central to your life.
Yes. Art defines me. I feel the need to express myself through art, and this leads me to very meaningful experiences. After high school, for example, I left and went to an island in Canada of the same size as Corsica but inhabited by just 5,000 people. The idea was to stay for a short time and then resume the journey, but I found myself in the middle of the pandemic. All connections were severed and I spent several months there. At first I worked as a cook and gardener’s helper, but then the local people got to know me and appreciate what I was doing. Different communities live there in harmony: there are indigenous families, but also Americans, Europeans, Asians and Africans. The island welcomed me, and I spent the rest of my stay doing work for the community and for individuals. Among other things, I helped build a shelter in the forest, for which I decorated rooms, kitchens, doors, etc.
An unforgettable experience.
Absolutely. Alone, on the other side of the world, I was able to communicate and create a relationship with these people precisely through art. After all, my conception of art is very close to the relational aesthetics that Nicolas Bourriaud talks about. I am interested in the relationship between art and life, between art and humanity.
How does Cinquerosso Arte fit into all this?
Again, it all stems from a relationship, because I came to Cinquerosso Arte thanks to a friend. I thank him and Francesca for letting me join this team, because it allowed me to get closer to the Italian art scene. Until now, I have always ‘worked from below’, in the streets, in social centres, in festivals. Having my work printed in this new context is a great opportunity for me.
