Despite his young age, Giovanni has clear ideas about his future and would like to dedicate his life to art. His works reflect an energetic, multifaceted and passionate personality, which has already taken him around the world.

Giovanni, tell us about yourself and your relationship with art.

My relationship with art began when I was a child. My mother tells me that I used to come home from kindergarten all dirty because I was rolling around in paint on huge canvases. Even at home I was surrounded by art materials because my mother made (and still makes) beautiful papier-mâché frames; she is also an interior designer and it’s her habit to visit markets and bring home beautiful objects that have always been a source of inspiration for me. My father, on the other hand, paints with watercolours; his peculiarity is that he always paints the same subject, a seascape, perhaps because he is nostalgic for the times when he lived in the Caribbean. I always breathed art and continued to draw even as a teenager, but this passion started to take a definite shape when – at the age of 19 – I moved to Holland to study.

Did you move to Holland to study art?

No, industrial product design. Unfortunately I didn’t get on well: I didn’t like the city, the climate, it’s been three hard years during which I let off steam by drawing. Art, therefore, came as a way of salvation, as an outlet. The drawings of that period were very dark, very visceral. Even then there were references to the world of comics, because the other way I found to console myself was to read Hugo Pratt. Corto Maltese is a source of great inspiration for me: I dream of an adventurous life like his and that is why after graduating from university I went to live on an island on the other side of the world: in Key West.

Hemingway’s Island.

That’s right. It’s the southernmost point of the United States of America, in the state of Florida, opposite Cuba. I was a guest of a family friend who has an art gallery where she exhibits all the local artists. So I found myself surrounded by works of art overflowing with colour. It was a complete novelty for me, because at that time I only drew in black and white with an Indian ink pen. I stayed there for about a year. I supported myself by working as a bricklayer and meanwhile discovered watercolours, bringing colour into my drawings. My time in Key West was very lonely, because I was there at the time of the pandemic and only old people live on the island, but it was also very peaceful.

And after that?

I returned to Italy to do a master’s degree in sustainability, which I then finished in Holland. At that point, however, I decided to take art more seriously and started to carve out some time for myself. I drew and drew, and in my mind, the intention of ‘going big’ became clear. I then made the decision that once I finished my master’s degree, I would return home and start painting more assiduously, also to see if my works could appeal to someone. I think it is my path and I would like to follow it to the end. I would like to support myself with art and have an adventurous life, as I said.

How are your works created?

I begin to distinguish two processes: one is the instinctive one, whereby I draw without thinking; the second starts from an idea, from something I see around me, from a memory, an object, a reading. I also find that I have favourite colours that I use often: Venetian pink, yellow, lagoon green. Among my sources of inspiration is the director Wes Anderson and I realise I use a palette very similar to his.

How do you get on with Cinquerosso Arte?

Very good! I had a great time at the event on 5 May and was happy to meet the artists. Also, it was the first time I saw my works exhibited and I could see how people reacted when looking at them. I am learning a lot thanks to Cinquerosso Arte.

Discover the art works of Giovanni Mercatelli!

With her gestural art, based on unpredictable trajectories and imprecise alchemy, Polina imitates the generating force of nature. She loves the idea of an ‘open’ art that can reach anywhere.

Polina, tell us about your path in art.
It all started quite early in my family. My father studied art and my mother studied fashion in St Petersburg, where they met. So I grew up in this world and attended a fashion and design school, where I could also practice music and other disciplines. In short, I had so many possibilities in front of me. As a child I wanted to be an astronaut, and today I find myself making paintings inspired by astrology: life takes strange paths. 

I left St Petersburg to go to Belgium, to attend the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and I started studying fashion. I graduated, but above all I experienced four quite intense years, where I was constantly losing myself and searching for myself: I needed to understand myself in order to decide what my future could be, as an alchemical search of self. Again, I had the opportunity to get to know disciplines related to art, which also helped me to express myself emotionally, and not just technically. 

Later I lived in London and Paris, and about ten years ago I moved to Italy for a consultancy, thinking I would stay for a short time: instead I am still here and have two children. I work as a fashion consultant, and I forecast new trends by linking fashion, sociology and anthropology; I also teach at Polimoda in Florence.

Have you always continued painting, beyond this work?

In part, yes. I used to do press consultancy, I used to do illustrations for private clients, but it was only a year ago that I decided to give more space to art. Maybe the name artist sounded a bit too strong to me and I never called myself that. Instead, a year ago, I decided to start on this path, telling more about it, contacting more people. So I met Francesca and Cinquerosso Arte, and got to know other galleries.

Where do your works come from?

I am very inspired by nature, but by let’s say ‘pagan’ nature, as an elemental and parental force. I like to think of nature when there were no human beings yet, which we then translated as energy: chaos, darkness, sunset, birth. Nature, in short, in its most primordial manifestations and for this I am often inspired by mythology and pagan religions. It is interesting to note the points of contact with science. Take electricity, for example. We are used to think of electricity as something technical, a product of knowledge, instead this force was there at the beginning of time: it is in every atom, in every cell.

I made a series of paintings called Electricity and Electric Sky, which are inspired by this very reflection. Another series is called First Beings, the first beings, which are precisely the ideas of wind, air, the first elements. Other series are connected to the signs of the zodiac, their relationship to the elements, to the most changeable energy and the most stable energy, the energy of destruction, of fire, or of water, of change.

Tell us about your technique, which is quite special.

I find myself very much in the technique called Gesture Painting. I am working with inks based on natural resins, extracted from insects, which are water-repellent and do not dilute: in this way, quite unexpected shapes are created. Moreover, I do not touch the paper: I pour the ink and guide the fall trajectory without being able to fully predict what will happen. 

In this way, matter is transformed, just as nature is transformed: it is the unknown that I like. I feel free from the need for control. Even when a client requests a work from me, he may express preferences for a certain colour or shape, but he has no certainties.

What do you think about Cinquerosso Arte?

I was very happy to be contacted by Francesca. I really liked this vision of an engaging art, open to everyone. Working with very high quality reproductions is something similar to what is happening in the fashion world: there is the one-off piece and then there is ready-to-wear fashion. What Francesca does is ‘ready-made art’, and I find it very interesting. I also feel in tune with the way the artists are selected, not on the basis of curriculum but on the basis of passion, talent and research: there are those who have followed an academic path, those who have always worked with galleries, alongside those who are just starting out. I also really like the possibility of creating a community of artists.

Discover the art works of Polina Stepanova!

Giuseppe Barilaro creates in order to destroy, he produces forms that he then tears apart, because what matters to him is to express the here and now of artistic action. And he says he is perfectly happy when one of his paintings is discussed at length.

Giuseppe, what has your path been so far?
I studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Catanzaro and graduated in Decoration and Decoration for Sacred Arts. What followed came quite spontaneously; I started painting academically, but I soon lost interest and switched to studying psychology. Later I started to frequent the morgues in Catanzaro attending medical sessions, and there I fell in love with the human body and its pathologies.
At some point I tried to pour all this into art. I start with the classical techniques, i.e. oil painting, acrylic, tempera, and above all the orthodox composition, which includes colour and form, and I paint in a hyperreal way, after which I literally destroy the painting with combustion and tear apart all the forms I had previously created.
I want the painting to emerge on its own, in what remains after the combustion. I have given this practice the name of a pathology, prosopagnosia: the individual does not recognise the face of the subject and sees it differently, obscured, fragmented.

Why this choice?
In my personal philosophy, the face is the only virgin part of the human being. In a person, the face is what is readable by everyone and is always subject to judgement.
After destroying the face, I use a ‘red lava’, the colour is poured onto the support and with the flame it is literally burnt, then it is lacerated with the blade of a box cutter. Mine is an artistic action reminiscent of what happens in the operating theatre. I burn the colour, make it thicken and then cut it with the scalpel. This lacerated red skin is an explosion from which other colours emerge.
These lacerations also refer to the earth, to the furrows that are made for cultivation, so much so that I created a collection of 15 paintings that I called ‘Between the plough and the uncultivated land’.

What drives you to paint?
I want to leave tangible, sharp, bad traces. I am convinced that art has to change certain codes. My lacerations are traces of experience, which take into account what is happening in the world: what I see is an immense destruction, a bit Schopenhauer-like. I am fascinated by the idea that very little of the subject remains in my works. That there is a marriage between the subject itself and the destructive act, something that – in the niche of a painting – bears witness to the fact that ‘there’ something happened. Like the furrows I mentioned earlier, in which there is a marriage and the earth waits for water to germinate. Art for me has to abandon rhetoric, it has to say nothing, but find the right time in the right place.

Normally people talk about artists as creative people. Do you define yourself as more creative or destructive?
I have to say that I don’t really like the words ‘artist’ and ‘creativity’. I prefer to be in that place with that object, for something that is going to happen. I could call myself an alchemist, although it is a rather overused word. If I really have to define myself, I prefer to say that I am a painter. What gives me satisfaction is knowing that one of my paintings has found the right place, has found a home, perhaps in a context I had not foreseen. This fascinates me about art.

So how do you imagine a work of yours in a house or a hotel, for example?
That is exactly what I like, because I would like my paintings to be defended and discussed. I would like people to do more than just look at them. That is why I prefer them to be bought by people with little economic potential. If one of my paintings is bought by a collector it will end up with other paintings as a collector’s item. Instead, I am fascinated by the idea that one of my paintings is there in front of people’s eyes while they are at the table, and becomes an object of discussion. I would like it to bring emotions, feelings and therefore also a need to talk and share. In all this, the artist must remain behind the scenes, leaving the scene to the painting itself.

What do you think of Cinquerosso Arte?
It is a marvel! I am really in love with the people who are part of the project and their production. And then the atmosphere one breathes is one of great affection: when I was in Bologna, I was full of smiles.

Discover the artworks of Giuseppe Barilaro!

Erika has managed to combine two great passions – art and love for others – by working in art therapy. Hers is a complex and profound world, because her art investigates and questions the mental schemes in which we all risk being trapped to some extent.

Erika, tell us about your story.

My baptism into the world of art dates back to when I was very young. I had an uncle who painted and he often took me with him. I loved going around with him and his watercolours to watch him paint. That’s why I always had clear ideas: I wanted to attend art school and then the Academy of Fine Arts and that’s how it was. Unfortunately it is not easy to make a living with this kind of education, but I followed another passion and started working in social work. I got a job in a psychiatric community as an operator, they gave me the opportunity to do painting and so I started to study art therapy. Since then I have always associated art with disability and psychiatry, in all areas and with people of all ages. I currently work in a Multipurpose Medical Centre and hold creative workshops in a small school attended by children with major disabilities, including autism.

What happens in their lives when they encounter art?

The first benefit is the relaxing effect. Kids generally need to find an environment that calms them down, where they can concentrate. Being able to get a boy to stay in a classroom, decrease vocalising, prevent him from wandering around and reduce aggression are very important results. When they paint they relax, mentally and physically. For me, their drawings are real works of art and many times I take inspiration from what they do. Neurodivergent people have an expressive freedom that we do not have, and this can be a source of inspiration. It was important for me to confront myself with them, because when I started ‘producing’ art again, after the Academy, I had lost my hand a bit with drawing: so I started with collage, a technique that I use a lot with my kids and that I have gradually deepened for my works.

Are there recurring themes in your works?

For a few years now I have been working on the concept of the ‘feminine’, in a somewhat provocative way. In the collages, for example, there are often these somewhat glossy and stereotypical figures of women from magazines from the 1960s, where they explained how to iron, how to cook and so on. From there I continued by printing on paper patterns and making needle and thread works: in short, I started mending images and objects.

What is behind this mending of yours?

Well, it wasn’t immediately clear to me but I think it’s a bit like mending a wound. This stereotyped family dimension, where there is the woman with all her well-defined and repetitive tasks, is for me something that requires an intervention. For me this is also therapeutic. I call the work a ‘product’, because it is the testimony of something that happened, of an act that had an effect on me and left beautiful marks. 

What do you think of Cinquerosso Arte?

I think it is a beautiful initiative. I have seen a special attention, a special care, and I regret that I am not able to participate much in the various meetings between the collaborators. However, I already have some works ready that I would like to send, so I hope you will see some new ones soon.

Discover the artworks of Erika Garbin!

Son and brother of photographers, Rocco Casaluci has always lived among film, lenses and photographic paper, but also among stages and country lanes, with the clear and sharp gaze of the observer.

Rocco, tell us about yourself.
I was born in Salento and, after a parenthesis in Verona during which I worked as an apprentice in the studio of one of my brothers, I lived most of my life in Bologna. My technical training then continued by working for various art galleries, reproducing works and creating catalogues. At the same time I have always carried on a great passion for the theatre, and by the strange cases of life I managed to reconcile the two by becoming the official photographer of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, from 2007 until 2021.
Of all the aspects of a photographer’s work, the one I have always loved most is the moment of printing. As we know, throughout the 20th century and until the advent of digital photography, the figure of the photographer was very different from that of today: you worked in a darkroom and you needed tools, materials and skills that were not within everyone’s reach.

Has your profession influenced your feeling as an artist?
Yes, theatre has allowed me to ‘connect the dots’. Stage photography is not interpretive, in the sense that you have to respect everyone’s work and enhance the spirit of the work, and it is very technical. This led me to take on the role of privileged observer, because I worked during rehearsals, in close contact with directors and actors. Moreover, this profession trained me in waiting. I watched the birth of the show, and it was really a matter of waiting for the right moment, the decisive one. After all, I came from the analogue school, which was already made up of slow times and waiting: the time of the shot, the time of development, selection, printing and possibly retouching. As the etymology itself says, photography is a describing with light.

And what is it today?
Today, everything happens in a rush, in a kind of bulimia of images. I, on the other hand, like photography that allows you to observe details. In a scene, for example, I am not only interested in the main focus, but also in what is around it. The Sangallo lace curtains, the gentleman in the corner reading the newspaper, a photograph that – like life – is most beautiful if it is present in the here and now.

Has your photography changed over time?
Yes, it has dried up to the project I presented at Cinquerosso Arte: Sponte plantis. As I said, I have always loved black and white and in this project I apply it to the extreme, subtracting colour from flowers and plants, arranged against a neutral background. What I try to do with my photography is a training in looking, not just seeing; something for which you have to go beyond the eye as an organ of sight but move on to the organ of the mind. I use a macro lens to capture every detail and induce the viewer to pause, to get closer to observe closely. I choose spontaneous, humble plants, which go unnoticed also because of the speed with which we move, and I treat them as if they were people, as if I were making a portrait of the plant. I work a lot in the studio, but there are cases when it is better to go out into the field to capture a particular moment, for example the hatching of the petals. Nature is really amazing, with its geometry and architecture, and it never ceases to surprise.

How do you find yourself in the Cinquerosso Arte team?
I am happy and grateful to be involved, because I very much share the idea of an art within the reach of all lovers of beauty, not just the wealthy. I myself love to turn my works into small objects to give to people I care about. Art in this way is a gesture of love.

Discover the artworks of Rocco Casaluci!

A musician and all-round creative artist, Giulio recalls the imaginary friends of his childhood in his works to have them always at his side. His is a spontaneous and ardent art, joyful but also profound.

Tell us about your artistic training.
I have an innate talent for drawing, which came out at a very young age. It often happened that, in primary school, the teachers thought my drawings were actually done by an adult. However, I had no real education because my parents preferred other paths for me. I attended accountancy instead of art school, but to compensate and nurture my creative side I studied trumpet at the conservatory. I am also a musician, therefore, and I still play. With covid I started painting again more assiduously, changing style radically. Before, mine was a realistic drawing and my subjects were women’s bodies or faces. At some point I started to feel that the rules of portraiture and realism in general were too restrictive. So I went back to my roots, to what I loved doing as a child.

Your bizarre creatures…
Already as a child I used to combine human and animal bodies to create anthropomorphic figures, and I have been doing something similar again. As a friend of mine says, they are the imaginary friends from childhood that used to live under the bed, and now I have brought them out. I call them ‘little drawings’ or ‘little monsters’, and on the surface they just look like funny creatures. In reality there is something deeper behind them: they are the invisible spectators of my life, silently and amusedly observing what I do and what happens to me. I have just gone through a very difficult experience in my family, an experience that made me feel a lot of fear and led me to reflect on what is really important in life. There is also this in my works.

What techniques do you use?
Different techniques, I like to change and I have a good manual dexterity, so I can do many things, whether it’s cooking or sculpting wood or crocheting. At first it was just watercolours, then I switched to a mixed technique. I use very thick sheets of watercolour paper, on which I prepare a base by mixing watercolours, inks, markers, pens, pencils. I usually start from an idea, a concept (for example, the feeling of never having enough time, which is something we all experience), at which point figures come to mind and I let themselves be guided by their shapes.

If you had to associate your art with a musical genre, what would it be?
I play in a street band, and I think it reflects my art perfectly. Inside there is a bit of abstractionism, a bit of cubism, there is the style of murals… Something vital and communicative.

What do you think of Cinquerosso Arte?
I joined immediately with great enthusiasm because I think it has a lot of potential. I really enjoyed meeting the other artists, also because it’s something that doesn’t happen very often. As a musician there are many more opportunities to meet and exchange ideas, whereas the art world is a bit more closed and there are fewer opportunities for contact. In Cinquerosso Arte, I have seen a close-knit and well-set group, and I really hope that this project will bring good things to everyone. They are special people.

Discover the works of Giulio Brandelli!

Impassive faces like Byzantine icons, constructions as precise as they are improbable, dreamlike scenes suspended in an indefinite time. Giulio Rigoni‘s mystical art awakens multitudes of memories and impressions, strictly without a reading guide.

Giulio, tell us your artistic story.

I studied art history at university, but then life took me elsewhere. I moved to London and started working in advertising. However, this passion for art resurfaced and I started painting almost for fun. In my work I am very much inspired by my first love: late Gothic art. It is an art that straddles the Byzantine style, which is so far removed from naturalism, and the Renaissance, which instead delved into the discovery of nature and verisimilitude. In the late Gothic period, people began to work on the human figure, but the human figure continued to have more spiritual than realistic forms. This is something that fascinates me a lot, and it was the starting point for my work.

You have a very personal and recognisable style, which in some cases recalls the atmospheres of One Thousand and One Nights. Are there direct references?

I am not directly inspired by these tales, but I can be described as a traditionalist and I am fascinated by classical cultures, including Middle Eastern ones. I also like the somewhat dreamy settings, which certainly draw on fairy-tale imagery. The key to my art is precisely the transition between reality and fiction, where the latter helps to better understand the former. If I had to describe my art in one word, I would call it mystical. I do not like to give interpretations or keys to interpretations, precisely because I like to think that everyone can find something different in my works. To live a unique and, indeed, mystical experience.

What do you draw inspiration for your artwork?

Often it is themes that give rise to series. For example, I designed the series of towers, which are all different from each other although they start from a common idea. I like architecture in general, and perhaps I am a failed architect. I like geometries, I like buildings from the past. This jumble of imaginative forms amuses me and always gives me stimuli. More and more often, I also work on commissions; in this case, the client asks me to interpret memories, narratives, which I usually realise on several boards.

You love black backgrounds a lot.

For backgrounds, I also love red and blue a lot, but in general my palette is rather limited: I use about 12 colours and they are always the same.What do you think of the Cinquerosso Arte project?I am very happy to be involved, also because a good friendship has developed with Francesca Fazioli and I like her enthusiasm a lot. Moreover, this collaboration came at the right time, because I have been interested in fine art printing for some time. With this type of very high quality reproduction, the work of art becomes more accessible and democratic, and I would like to explore its potential in relation to some of my works.

Discover mystical art by Giulio Rigoni!

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.

Discover artworks by Andrea Piccioli!