Interview by Jimon

1-Where did you grow up, and where do you live currently?  I was born and still live and work in the Vesuvius area in Naples, Italy. It is a very special city. “Naples is a Paradise: everyone lives in a state of intoxicated self-forgetfulness, myself included.” (Goethe quote)

2-How would you describe Gennaro Santaniello?  A man who tries to make art in a place where everyone lives in a state of intoxicated self-forgetfulness, himself included.

3-Did you have any official training for art?  Officially, I’m a mechanical engineer. But art is my only true passion. I am a self-taught artist.

4-How long have you been making art and what lead you to start?  I was 5 years old when I took the tempera colors my older brother used for school and painted an imaginary city on a piece of paper. Since then I have never stopped painting. But the most important moment in my life was when my mother came home with a huge box. Inside there was a painter’s easel, some canvases, brushes and oil paints. What lead me to start? I started painting to express myself which I couldn’t do with words: and almost always it is about emotions.

5-Is there any reality behind the characters in your art or is it pure imagination?  Almost all the characters in my paintings are real. Its mostly people I know who sit for me, sometimes subjects that I have photographed around.

6-The future is __NOW_______.

7-What advice would you give putative collectors?  Buy only art that you really like, that speaks to you in some way and with which you can live together for a long time. Art must be a pleasure for the eyes, the mind and the spirit and then an investment.

8-How did you acquire your style?  This is a question that I find it hard to answer. Personally I cannot stop myself on a single style since I create from pure realism to blurred works. Actually I believe that the artist’s profession is a researcher. To obtain the technical skills necessary to paint in a realistic way I studied and I still study a lot. But it is essential to have, in my opinion, a capacity for synthesis, both in terms of technique and content, to achieve a balance. That’s how I acquire my styles.

9-Have you ever come across a piece of art that you could not or did not want to stop looking at?  I know this answer sounds too classical, but I am addicted to Supper at Emmaus (Caravaggio, London). I have been there many times, hours and hours.

10-What influences you as an artist?  Emotions. Feelings. Both mine and those I try to perceive in others.

11-What kinds of art hang on the walls of your home?  Mostly my paintings. Often those recently painted that I change continuously. Many photographic works made by my partner (@obezianka.it) and some paintings by some artist friends.

12-How do you describe success as an artist?  Being free to create and experiment without pressures of any kind. And live from proceeds of your Art. Today 90% of the artists are obliged to have a job in another field to pay the bills. And they reserve free time, weekends and nights for art.

13-Do you have a place/person/thing that you visit for inspiration?  I like walking. It could be in the Naples’ old town, among the bustling alleys and small shops of ancient crafts, among the ruins of Pompeii or in the countryside, between nature and rural landscapes. It depends on the moments.

14-Name three things you can’t live without in your studio?  1. Music  2. Loneliness (or sometimes just the presence of my partner)  3. Sometimes a glass of good red wine (Aglianico is my favorite)

15-If you could have dinner with 3 artists living/dead who would be at your table?  Bansky, Mitch Griffiths, Gerhard Richter.

16-How would someone find you on social media?  Website www.gennarosantaniello.com   Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest: @santanielloart