Interview by Jimon

1-Alessio Guano, one word to describe him?  Curious

2-Where do you currently live and create?  La Spezia, a small town in the northern part of Italy. I work in my studio – atelier97 arte contemporanea in my hometown.

3-Your first experience with art as a child:  I’ve always been fascinated by painting, since I was a child. In my old house, I had the chance to admire several works hanging on the walls. Those old landscapes appeared to me as fantastic worlds. I loved drawing, reproducing the landscapes and smearing white walls with colours, something common to all children, I believe. I consider that wall as my first canvas.

4-What book/film/work of art most recently captured your attention and why?  I was recently hit by some reviews on the web about the Julian Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gate movie. More than twenty years after his film debut with Basquiat, Schnabel retraces in this movie the last years of the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh.  I love to study the techniques of masters, and for that reason, I have been for hours in front of his paintings displayed at Musée d’Orsay in Paris. I do not consider myself a real fan of his work because I prefer the avant-garde art and the abstract. But, I am always moved by observing the charged brushstrokes and the disruptive gestures of this artist. What struck me about the feature film was the attempt to bring the public closer to painting, to the artist’s vision through the eyes with which he portrayed the world. And this is the most important thing that a painter can hold.

5-The future is _________.  The future is now!  We should understand that we can improve our future. The answer is living close to art, in its wide meaning. If a work of art cannot live always in the present and in the future, it must not be considered at all.

6-What is your thought on the following statement: Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable! Art must shake people!  This quote is dear to many artists I know, and even to me, because it has deep meaning. I know, sometimes contemporary art is something different to “easy to read”, because the language is changing fast, but it is.  Art has a cultural and political function. It creates happy and unhappy moments.  Art must enrich, excite, disturb and shake everyday life. It must be able to highlight social problems, create balance, maintain links. Art must aspire to be a universal language. I am convinced that art can and should be all of that.

7-You have a million dollars to spend on art, you buy…  Really? I’m a lucky boy. I need a new big studio where to work in.  I work a lot! I often work on several canvases at the same time so my mixed media are actually scattered everywhere in my studio and the available space is more and more limited. A good, well-lit study is what I need. Of course, with a million dollars, I could do a lot. I would also open a small gallery, an art space where to meet artists and passionate visitors, an open room where I can talk with friends and bystanders. It would be nice to have a space to share and grow with someone.

8-Least favourite part of your day:  I love to work on morning hours because I love the light! I need natural light to work better on my canvas, so I don’t like late night very much!

9-Did you have any training for art or is it inherent?  I am a self-taught enthusiast. Painting has always been present in my life, since I was a child, but I started painting with oil and acrylic during the last years of high school, attending painting studies in my city. I am a curious boy and I’ve always been fascinated by old books and art magazines. During my academic career at the University of Pisa, I followed some courses in History of Contemporary Art. Perhaps, thanks to these courses, I managed to know things that I would never have known otherwise.

10-Do you remember the first piece of art that you created?  Oh, it’s not easy to remember that. But, fortunately I remember it pretty well. It was a portrait. A copy of a work by Giuseppe Boldini, an oil painting on canvas of the famous Italian musician Giuseppe Verdi! It was 1998.

11-How would you like to be seen as an artist years from now?  I would like to be seen as an artist who left something interesting behind.

12-Do you have a place/person/thing that you visit for inspiration?  People often ask me what inspires me and what is my source of inspiration to be able to realize my works. It is not always simple to answer. I often reply that there is not one thing in particular that inspires me. Everything around me can be a source of inspiration for me. Often it’s the little things that strike me the most. A good walk by the sea certainly helps a lot!

13-If you could have dinner with 3 artists living/dead who would be at your table?  Marcel Duchamp – Jean Michel Basquiat – Cy Twombly.

It would be so cool !

14-Name three things you can’t live without in your studio?  Paper, colours and light, of course!

15-How would someone find you on social media? 

Instagram           www.instagram.com/alessio_guano

Facebook           www.facebook.com/atelier97

16-Anything else you’d like to mention that I didn’t ask?  No, I just would like to thank you for your interest in my work!

All the best!