Francesca Calzà
Discover the talents of T.O.E. Art Market through a series of exclusive interviews with the artists featured on our platform. Together, we explore the artistic practices and research pursued by the artists who enrich our community with their unique artworks. Each week, we invite you to get to know better the challenges, languages, themes, and stories behind the works available, allowing you to connect with the creative minds that make T.O.E. Art Market a vibrant and dynamic showcase.
We are here in the company of Alessio Pistilli. Let's start with a few questions to get to know him better:
Francesca Calzà - Could you tell us a bit about your artistic journey? How did you become interested in art?
Alessio Pistilli - Since a young age, I expressed myself through creative play, particularly drawing and modeling with play dough, driven by simple curiosity. My path became clearer in public schools, where I experienced my first group art projects, including school exhibitions and winning a few awards. This path intensified through the State Artistic High School of Latina and a degree in Historical-Artistic Sciences from "La Sapienza" University in Rome. These studies led me to focus entirely on art and open a small studio with an attached library, where I work daily on my projects that revolve around my moods and emotions. The reasons and motivations that drew me to the world of art, or rather "making art", began with an interest in what I consider the foundations of art: imagination and creation. Later on, "freedom" came into play, that sense of lightness mixed with serenity that makes me feel in balance with everything around me. However, one does not reach freedom without going through the hard work of knowledge and perseverance. Leonardo Da Vinci said: "Not the one who begins, but the one who perseveres".
Francesca Calzà - What encounters, cultural references, or moments would have had a strong impact on the development of your research?
Alessio Pistilli - Currently, with "iRenaissance", a concept born between 2017 and 2018, I seek inspiration from the era that has marked and continues to influence contemporary art: the Renaissance. However, I also have the fortune to enrich this inspiration through the study of all post-Renaissance production, thus having a broader spectrum to experiment with and expand my creativity. More specifically and contemporarily, I cannot fail to mention the cultural references that have educated me for personal growth and subsequently for professional projection: primarily, my art teacher (also an artist) Francesco Porcari, with his works linked to mannerism contextualized in my country, and constant references such as Roberto Ferri, Mitch Griffiths, Marco Grassi, the sculptor Jago (with whom I had the fortune to collaborate), and other artists discovered through exhibitions and social media. Today, through the internet, I can discover many artists who enrich me and give me strength and courage to dare and go beyond my comfort zone, leading me to create works that differ from one another in terms of techniques and materials.
Francesca Calzà - Are there constants in your work? What would drive you to explore these topics?
Alessio Pistilli - Generally, I have always had an inclination toward figurative arts, but high school and university studies broadened my references to include all genres. In terms of constants in my work, I can say that my research is almost always based on "provocation." Provoking strong emotions to destabilize the audience's daily habits. To achieve this, I first have to destabilize my own habits: the idea suggests the technique, the style most appropriate to express it best. I just have to be ready! (laughs) For example, the concept preceding iRenaissance required a more conceptual and less figurative approach. While, in my previous work "En to Pan", I painted with a freer and less realistic technique: a raw, bare style, precisely because the underlying concept demanded it. For iRenaissance, I could have used different styles from the realistic one, but it seemed the most suitable and focused to best represent the message. I was driven by the intent to enhance and exalt the concept of Beauty, leading me to reflect on the potential technology has and can have in our lives if used with a certain criterion. The goals in terms of creation and production revolve around the emotional sphere of humans. The continuous search for compositions, portraits, and allegories that dialogue between past and present seeks to provide new artistic insights for a future more sensitive to human relationships.
Francesca Calzà - How would your cultural roots and personal experiences influence your artistic practice? Could you provide some examples?
Alessio Pistilli - My cultural roots and personal experiences have a totalizing influence on my artistic practice. I live in a small town, Cori, steeped in history and art, in Italy, a country that holds 70% of the world's artistic heritage. A heritage that has a certain weight in the vision of someone who wants to make art their profession! And this vision intensifies when one is ready to embrace it without filters. In my case, continually questioning myself to daily define my identity. Of course, to achieve this, there is a need for methodology and perseverance. And iRenaissance is an example of this: through this production, which will not be limited to the portraits currently in progress, but will also expand to the creation of court scenes, religious or collective scenes, and sculptures with a classic flavor, always in close relationship with current technology, music, and video as a narrative of the creative and working process through the presence of QRcodes, I am gradually trying to recreate a "2.0 workshop" of the Renaissance, where art returns to being the center of the world, hopefully generating a new sensitivity.
Francesca Calzà - How would a work come about? Would you always start with a predefined idea, or it emerge from the creative process?
Alessio Pistilli - It depends on the creative context. If it involves works related to commissions or competitions, the idea almost always starts from a free creative process. For the iRenaissance concept, I obviously start with a predefined idea. In this case, my initial point of reference is the Renaissance and its production. However, as I mentioned earlier, I also have the fortune to enrich these references through the interpretations of all those artists who have followed up to our days. This allows me to have a broader spectrum for creating my ideas. An example is my canvas "The other player". The scene is clearly inspired by Caravaggio's "The Cardsharps" from 1594, but also draws from other scenes such as Paul Cezanne's "The Card Players" from 1892 or Cassius Marcellus Coolidge's "Dogs Playing Poker" from 1903. A mix of interpretations on the theme that allows me to find my personal vision.