ILL FAME MAGAZINE 05 – RELOADED – TEXTS
Ill Fame magazine saw the light of day in a black and white photocopy version in 1996 to talk about a very active but totally underground scene in southern Italy. The zero colour issue was then printed in 1997 with walls, trains and bombing from all over the world. In 1998, the editors published a mini EP, ‘Bboy Guerrieri’ in collab- oration with the ‘abbusivo’ record label THC. Four more issues of the magazine followed until around 2003. In 2011, a volume by Schetch alone dedicated to the name of the magazine was presented in the Ulrico Hoepli bookshop in Milan. In 2004, volume o5 was in the works, the artist Blu reigned on the cover, but more and more pieces began to circulate on the web, so the editorial team decided it was time to stop with the printing. After 11 years of stop, tired of the speed of social networks and dissatisfied with seeing the work from the mobile phone screen, we decided to start again with this adventure. That is why we decided to call this issue 05- reloaded, which will contain: style writ- ing, illustration, sketches, neo muralism, interviews, exhibitions, contemporary artists, projects, trains and much more…
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ALOHA
INTERVIEW
Class: 1994 – Studies: Liceo Artistico, Animazione3D in Lugano, Illustration and Animation at IED in Milan – Experiences: illustration, printing, writing – Work: illustrator, graphic designer and animator. Started with graffiti and then switched to painting – Current work: illustrator and animator.
_How did you get into drawing?
I started so early that I don’t have a precise memory. Drawing is the classic pastime of children, but for some it stays with them forever. Certainly in the family I grew up in, I was always encouraged to do it. My father’s old job was selling photocopying machines and every time he came home with a lot of reams of paper that he didn’t know where to put. My brother and I would doodle millions of A4 sheets as children.
_What studies did you do? What are your artistic references?
I played it safe with the LiceoArtistico. Then, somewhat intrigued by animation, I enrolled in a professional school in Switzerland to learn 3D modelling and animation. It was a total failure, so I enrolled in the animation and illustration course at the IED in Milan, where I had a lot of fun. During my school years I really developed my own style. I don’t think I have any precise references from which I draw inspiration. I leaf through a volume of classical art with the same enthusiasm as when I look at Samurai Jack or visit a Damien Hirst exhibition. But the world of graffiti has certainly given a big boost to my production.
_What is your relationship with Urban culture? Tell us something that links you to the wall experience and whether or not you still practice it and why.
During high school I started to do some graffiti, but I was never one of those crazy people you imagine. I was more of an abandoned factory than a station at night. More than the attitude, I like the aesthetics of Urban culture. Many call me an ‘urban artist’, but I am a studio type, an atelier type, let’s say. If I can sit indoors all day in front of a screen, I’m happy.My experience with graffiti soon wore off, but no hard feelings.I realised it wasn’t mine. Too tiring and expensive for me :). However, it remains something I am enormously passionate about, and thanks to my friends who still practice, I will never be able to completely erase it from my influences (fortunately).
_Do you see yourself as close to a current? There are often references to recognised brands or trademarks, can you tell us more about your poetics and the message you want to send, if there is one in particular?
I can’t identify myself in a precise current. I do digital illustrations mainly with the personal style I have developed over time. Rather, I like to think of my illustrations and my characters as an expanding world. A bit like the Simpsons, where each episode expands the city and adds characters, each of my illustrations or videos or paintings contribute to expanding my imagery while maintaining a consistency of style. The only purpose is to produce beautiful drawings.
_Do your characters have names or are they impromptu?
No, they don’t have names although they often recur. I am very fond of many of them but not enough to give them a name.
_You have worked with brands and exhibitions, can you tell us something about your collaborations?
My style lends itself to many uses and applications. I can keep my style recognisable whether I am working on a video clip or creating paintings for an exhibition. I have been lucky enough to work with a lot of brands and some quite important ones. I have been commissioned by Nike, Adidas, Universal, Modes especially for illustrated and animated advertising campaigns. I have also worked on some video clips for Gue Pequeno, Izi, Side, Belize. I have exhibited my work in Los Angeles, Paris, Kiev, Sydney, Milan and Venice.
What is your core business at the moment?
At the moment, apart from the usual illustration work, I am very focused on Jaalo, which is a brand that I founded with two partners last year. Basically, we are developing functional products designed by the artists we collaborate with. We are mainly producing ceramics. It is a project somewhere between art collecting and interior design. Even the personalised packaging for each artist is made here in Italy. As I write this interview, we are already in production with six different pieces designed by six international artists. 2022 will be a busy year, but I must say that this project is giving us a lot of satisfaction. I have always been used to working alone and only for myself. Working with partners is great news for me.
_What plans do you have for the future?
The answer has already been given above, but actually, with Jaalo, we have set up a large space in Varese where we work. I never had a real studio where I could create and work, but now that I do, I have rediscovered a lot of confidence in my personal work. Often I think I should stop drawing, or at least stop drawing for work. this space has encouraged me to do more and not waste time. so in addition to Jaalo, I would say that the biggest project for the future is the Aloha project.
_what would you recommend to someone approaching the world of drawing?
I don’t know. If you intend to make it your job, I recommend learning some basic programmes like Photoshope Illustrator and if possible buying a nice tablet with a sensitive screen. I have a Cintiq Wacom22HD which is the bomb.
_The most important thing you’ve learnt from doing this?
That the analogue world also exists. I know it’s a boomer phrase, but I really do spend all day in front of the screen. When I am preparing for an exhibition and I have to spend hours and hours, days and days painting, I feel strange but good. I would like to paint more.
_A free thought, greetings, whatever ^_*
Alooooooooohaaaaa
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ATTITUDE SHOW
GRAFFITI WRITING, STREET ART, NEO MURALISM
Interview with curator GIANGUIDO GRASSI
On 14 December 2021, the exhibition ‘ATTITUDE’ opened at PalazzoBlu in Pisa, featuring some of the Italian protagonists of Style Writing, Street Art Neo muralism, the pioneer Phase 2 and some representatives of the European bombing train movement such as Taps & Moses. The project was curated by GianGuidoGrassi, realised by Start – Open you eyes and produced by the Fondazione Pisa, with the patronage of the Municipality of Pisa, the Region of Tuscany and various other institutions.
_Where does the title of the exhibitionAttitude come from?
Aptitude indicates an innate or acquired disposition, whether physical, psychophysical or mental, that makes it possible or easy to perform a certain activity; in street jargon, it indicates the inclination and approach with which a painter approaches his or her expressive action. There are many personal attitudes and many artistic conclusions to be drawn from a phenomenon that is already vast in geographical terms, which is why it is not easy to define what it is to be moving within a container that has as its common elements the gathering of artists who spontaneously begin to paint in the urban context and the convergence of the energy of the road with the creative component. The term ATTITUDE seemed to me to encapsulate a kind of lowest common denominator, an inescapable factor in understanding what has happened: ‘we have created an art form that came out of our apparently insignificant neighbourhood existences and is now everywhere on earth’ (Phase 2).