futurismo distopico arte - Cinquerosso Arte

Maria Paola Grifone – The real world questions me

Posted on 15 May 2023 | by francesca | Leave a Comment

She calls herself permeable, Maria Paola Grifone. Permeable to so many stimuli, from a shadow on a wall to a news story, which she feels the need to investigate through art. Painting in order to know, then, as she explains in very clear words.

Maria Paola, can you tell us about your path?

I went to a traditional art school, where they still drew a lot, and perhaps that is why I am so attached to copying from life. Later I attended a course for fashion designers, but I realised that I was more interested in fashion illustration than in making models, so I decided to enrol at the Academy of Fine Arts. Here I took the painting course and was able to deepen my artistic identity, including through exhibitions and everything that revolved around that environment.

What techniques do you usually use?

It depends a lot on the periods. The different techniques I use are united by their immediacy of execution. So, for example, Indian ink on glossy paper allows me a direct execution; I don’t need to make sketches or study the subject, what happens on paper is the result of a continuous flow between me, the subject itself and what I use to represent it, in this case Indian ink. In this last period I am using charcoal, fusage, powdered graphite on paper or prepared canvas. Let’s say that I use extremes of matter: Indian ink is very liquid, and glides on paper, while graphite powder, or charcoal, are dry materials, i.e. the exact opposite. I still don’t understand if there is a reason for my going from one extreme to the other. In any case, for me technique cannot be distinguished from content. If I use oil or acrylic, for example, it is because what I want to express can only be expressed with oil or acrylic. This game of ‘opposites’ has led me to the essentiality of black and white, which has become indispensable for my expressive needs. It is a contrast that brings out the most human contradictions: life and death, light and darkness… everything that we are.

What are your sources of inspiration?

It is not easy to answer this question. Let’s say I am slowly discovering them, I am becoming aware of them. I find inspiration by observing reality, starting with objects, or faces, for example. I have done some work on shadows on walls, to give another example. I realised that when my gaze rests on something, I have to investigate.

Lately I have been attracted to topical issues, so I am working on war and suffering. In this case my sources are the media, from newspapers to the web. I look for and look at endless images, everywhere.

I am also inspired by music – which I listen to daily – music videos, or films. Even a conversation or an article can stimulate me, perhaps to reflect on a social or psychological aspect. I am very permeable.

I like to look, I like to listen, and if something strikes me I feel the need to explore it and represent it.

Currently on cinquerossoarte.com there are The Hidden Forms, Equilibrium, Inside Me and Black Vase. What can you tell us about these works?

They are objects represented from life, with which I have an emotional connection. What they have in common is that they are containers. They are not empty, in short. I liked to play – once again – with opposites: the full and the empty in a white, almost eternal space, without connotations. The technique I used, Indian ink on photographic paper, allowed me to achieve that immediacy I mentioned. It is a non-control that leaves room for what freely happens while I paint, even when it comes to ‘mistakes’: often it is these that surprise me and take the image where I want it. It is a technique of realisation, but it is also a metaphor for life, which works just like this, for unforeseen events and smudges.

What are you working on at the moment?

At the moment I am investigating a very hot topic, which is the relationship between man and technology. What I feel is emerging and what I represent is a humanity that, faced with complexity, seeks an escape route. They are figures immersed in a physical void, with a lot of white underlining this distance between us and reality. You will soon see them on cinquerossoarte.com.

Discover Artworks by Maria Paola Grifone!

Happy Birthday Cinquerosso Arte!

Posted on 5 May 2023 | by francesca | Leave a Comment

On May 5, 2022, Cinquerosso Arte’s adventure officially began. Twelve months later, we can already make an initial assessment, between expectations and perspectives. We talk about it with Francesca Fazioli, the mind and heart of the project.

Francesca, thinking back to a year ago, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?

I remember in particular the excitement of those days. Even though the official launch of Cinquerosso Arte took place on May 5, we already had several months of work behind us, during which we nurtured the idea and the project, giving it substance day after day.

At that time, the future was full of unknowns, because we were treading a new path, but we were animated by a great energy. And I must say that that energy has never faded, but on the contrary has gradually grown, fuelled also by the enthusiasm of our artists, both those already present from the very beginning and those who have gradually been added.

Are you satisfied with the results obtained in the name of Affordable Art?

Yes. My idea was to give greater visibility and market to Italian emerging artists, and I think I hit the mark by deciding to invest in talent. It is a great satisfaction to note that there have been so many adhesions over time. Today, very young emerging artists and others – more experienced ones – collaborate with Cinquerosso Arte, people who make their living from art and others who have found in art a parallel way to express themselves. In any case, the artworks quality is extraordinary, as you can see by browsing through our art gallery.

Are there any episodes that you remember with particular pleasure?

There are so many, it is impossible to list them all. Certainly the participation in some important trade fair events, which was exciting in many respects. For a fledgling company like ours, it was a great impact to participate in an international event like Maison et Objet in Paris. We took part in Sia in Rimini, the trade fair dedicated to hospitality, where, among other things, we had the privilege of making the acquaintance of Marcello Ceccaroli, an architect of great weight in the world of hôtellerie. We were also among those who animated Artefiera White Night 2023, on the occasion of the prestigious art fair in Bologna, with an extraordinary opening of our spaces and a live painting of great emotional impact that garnered much interest. Again, I can mention with great satisfaction the fact that we were contacted by Ennismore, an international company that takes care of and manages prestigious hotels in several countries, interested in our works to decorate an elegant structure soon to be inaugurated. And finally, to come to the most recent news, we have become a partner of AIPI – Associazione italiana professionisti interior designers. This collaboration opens up so many possibilities, and we are obviously very proud of it.

In short, in just one year, Cinquerosso Arte has already come a long way. What is the next goal? In this year we have laid the foundations, involving many Italian artists and making many contacts. Now we aim to consolidate our brand, to position ourselves as a reliable interlocutor in the architecture and interior design sector. We address ourselves above all to professionals, because we are convinced that works of art represent great added value when designing a particular space. Our mission remains twofold: to foster talent and to bring more and more art into people’s lives. I like the idea of our artworks entering a home, the lobby of a large hotel, the meeting rooms of an office… in short, a lived and frequented place that becomes more alive through art. Not a simple furnished space, but an ecosystem in which functionality and beauty coexist.

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Riccardo Basaglia – Drawing to discover

Posted on 26 April 2023 | by francesca | Leave a Comment

Art is, for Riccardo Basaglia, a way of discovering new things. His drawings arise from the confluence of themes and cultures, but also of techniques and tools. His is a curious and open mind, as well as a creative one. The result is rich works, almost explosive in their vitality.

Riccardo, tell us about your training. How did you approach art?

I am completely self-taught and I have not received any art education since middle school. Until then I had attended steinerian schools, where children are very stimulated to express themselves artistically, but with the transition to high school I went on alone. I never had anyone to guide or advise me. All the techniques I use, for example, I learnt from online tutorials. At first I used watercolours and my subjects were mainly landscapes and natural elements, then I moved towards acrylics, which have a more powerful impact on the paper, and I ended up mixing both techniques.

In the training of an artist, culture and sources of inspiration count even before techniques. What are yours?

I have never lacked sources of inspiration, fortunately. Initially, I was mainly inspired by nature, as I said, while later I developed a growing interest in technology. Coming from a Steinerian school, it was a kind of revelation for me that came in high school: I had never seen an electronic blackboard, for example! This advent of technology in my life has had an effect on my drawings. As with the techniques, in the case of the subjects I tried to combine two different areas: naturalistic contexts and technological elements. There is a bit of a tendency to divide the so-called ‘manual’ works and those obtained with technological aids. Instead, I try to bring everything together, particularly with the work I am working on these days. I drew a natural landscape, then I scanned it and added digital files: an operation only possible by combining the two approaches. The result satisfies me. My goal is to create works of this kind, but in which the technical aspect is not too conspicuous: I want harmonious, pleasant works.

After all, technology is also the fruit of human creativity.

Exactly. On the contrary, today the development of artificial intelligence makes it more and more complicated to understand how much is the direct result of human work and how much is produced by a programme (no longer just by a programme). In my opinion, one should not distinguish so sharply. Artificial intelligence can be used as a tool to bring an idea to fruition, one has to learn how to use it.

Talking of ideas, you draw on a very vast imaginary world…

Japanese culture, which is very interesting precisely because it is so different from ours, had a great influence on me. Here too, I have sought a possibility of encounter, merging elements from different cultures and searching for symbolism akin to western culture. Cyberpunk is inspired precisely by the most developed cities in Asia where, in a futuristic dystopian scenario, the control of technology has gotten out of hand and nature is almost absent. The immersion effect I try to convey with my drawings is aimed at a search for a possible communion between technology and nature that would make sustainable technological development possible in an ideal future. I then discovered that there are several sub-genres of cyberpunk, which amazed me. Here, my drawings are born from discoveries and always push me to discover new things. For example, I am now studying charcoal, something far removed from what I have done so far. It’s curiosity that moves me. I like to know, to learn and to imagine.

Discover Riccardo Basaglia’s artworks!

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