ITALIAN STREET ARTISTS

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Ariel Johns
6 years ago
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1 ITALY ITALIAN STREET ARTISTS Marika Puicher PARALLELOZERO

2 Rome. Alice Pasquini, 33 years old from Rome, next to one of her murals in the Pigneto neighborhood (Rome)

3 They come from different artistic and professional backgrounds but what they share is the street, walls, pavements and manholes; deserted places that they use as unique canvas for their works. These are the Italian street artists, women that have chosen an artistic path that until recently, when street art and graffiti were still seen as mere vandalism, was an exclusively male form of art. Recognized as a contemporary form of art years ago outside of Italy, particularly in Northern Europe, in the last few years street art is acquiring a unique role in the Italian art scene as well. As a consequence, many artists who used to work illegally in urban spaces or were forced to migrate to make a living out of their art, are now more and more sought-after by public and private companies, as well as well-known art galleries. Despite the recent appreciation of this form of art, in and outside of Italy, the number of women street artists is still relatively low compared to their male colleagues. Among these few, some work mainly as set designers, illustrators, cartoon designers, graphic designers, but for all of them urban spaces are their favourite creative context: mainly for the adrenalin they fell when they face an illegal wall, for the sense of freedom and the magic of creating works of art in wide spaces and in constant change, for the pleasure of bringing back to life gray and deserted places. Microbo, AliCè, Mp Cinque, Nais, Gio Pistone, Pax Paloscia, Nemo, Miss EU, Allegra Corbo, Le To Let, Pea Brain (known as Suf), Martina Merlini, and Signora K; these are two generations of artists, fourteen determined eclectic, critical and passionate women, who through their brushes, stencils and sprays have seized the world s most democratic and largest art gallery: the street.

4 Rome. Murals by Alice Pasquini in the Quadraro neighbourhood

5 Microbo, 43 years old, in her studio in Milan. Microbo is one among very few first generation Italian women street artists

6 Milan. Murals by the street artist Microbo covered by large boxes and by a stand in the market in Piazza Miniti

7 Eugenia Garavaglia, 32 years old, painting in the Magenta studio (Milan). Eugenia started painting illegally in urban spaces while she was attending the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Milan

8 Murals by the artists Nais (Marzia) and Miss EU (Eugenia Garavaglia) on a wall on via Varesina (Milan)

9 Venzago (Milan). Marzia Formoso, 32 years old, posing with one of her canvas in the back

10 MP5 posing with her works in her house in Rome. MP5 is one of well-known Neapolitan artists. She is cartoonist, illustrator, set designer and street artist

11 Bologna. Installation of a poster created on the walls of Bologna station by the artist MP5 during the Cheap Festival

12 Pax Paloscia, 38 years old, posing next to one of her canvas in her house in Rome. She is a versatile artist who lives between Rome and New York

13 Spazio Laszlo Biro in Rome. Laszlo Biro is a small art gallery which opened in Rome in 2010 with the aim to promote street and urban art. It mainly hosts temporary street art installations and graffiti offering an opportunity to young national and international underground artists

14 Gio Pistone, 38 years old, at the Casa dell Architettura in Rome (former Acquario Romano) where she has created murals with the artist Nicola Alessandrini. She is an important artist from Rome

15 A mural by the artist Gio Pistone at the entrance of a subway in the Quadraro neighbourhood (Rome)

16 The writer Nemo next to one of her graffiti on the tracks of Milan Porta Garibaldi station. Nemo is one of very few Italian women graffiti writers

17 Mural by the writer Nemo along the railway in Bologna

18 Suf, 48 years old, is one of the first Italian street artists. She is particularly known for her unique ducks (one of the first murals in Italy), created in the late 80s along the railway tracks in Bologna and on several Italian city walls

19 Bologna. Stencil created by the artist Suf

Martina Merlini, 27 years old, during the preparation of WAX, her personal exhibition inaugurated on 13th December at the Spazio Elastico in Bologna.

20 Martina Merlini, 27 years old, during the preparation of WAX, her personal exhibition inaugurated on 13th December at the Spazio Elastico in Bologna. Martina is a young artist working on illustration, installations and, more recently, street art with geometrical shapes on urban spaces. In 2012 she took part in Living Walls, the first women s street art festival in Atlanta

21 Signora K, 28 years old, posing with one of her murals in the back in a deserted space in Parma. Signora K started painting illegally when she was a young girl, following the crew of graffiti writers in Reggio Emilia, her home town

22 Murals of the artist Signora K in a subway in Reggio Emilia

23 Elisa Placucci and Sonia Piedad Marinangeli, known as To Let. To Let create installations, videos and street art

24 A details of a mural created by the artists To Let in Le Mura shopping centre in Ferrara

25 Allegra Corbo, 45 years old, lying down on one of her installations

26 PARALLELOZERO, VIA DONATELLO 19/A, MILAN - INFO@PARALLELOZERO.COM

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