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Antonio Riello, From Italy, Works In Every Media You Can Imagine: Glass, Painting, Sculpture, Photography And More

3/31/2017

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by Patrick Ogle

Antonio Riello is an Italian artist who works in pretty much every sort of media you can imagine. Within this any subject is also fair game. He manipulates and mauls this subject matter, recreating it into something new and also reflective. The art all revolves around his central tenet; to Riello ambivalence is the "symbolic form" of the modern age. When looking at his art it is helpful to keep this in mind.

His work at Scope Miami 2016 was largely made from glass.

"One distinctive feature of my work is to focus about the ambiguous nature of human violence and its tools (notably weapons) I decided to suggest the idea of an "aggressive fragility". In order to get this I combined a weapon (a pistol) with the most fragile kind of matter par excellence: glass," says Riello. "I am well aware that glass as a medium in contemporary art is a 'slippy and dangerous' one.  It is very necessary to have a purpose to use it, instead its charm can become, artistically speaking, pretty unwelcome and unexpected."

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Civil War
One of the glass pieces, Civil War, was shown at Scope Miami 2016.

"A certain amount of ambiguity (disturbing and quirky) is always present in all my artworks. In very specific case of CIVIL WAR the elegant minimalism of the 'frozen' glass is in blatant contrast with the 'Pop-Style' of the pistols," he says. "A kind of paradoxical hotness embedded in cold. A piece where quality and quantity can melt together in a weird unity."

Riello says working with Berengo Studio in glass is a paradise for artists.

"The people working there are really available and focused on artist's idea. So over there on Murano Island, step by step, one can create and test until the required artistic result happens. Melting, mixing, assembling, warming, cooling, colouring, polishing, throwing away, restarting. That is the way," he says. "I collaborate also with a young talented independent glass blower, Massimo Lunardon, usually working with a different type of glass, the Pyrex Glass."

To see more and keep up on news on Riello head to www.antonioriello.com

Riello decided to become an artist after reading Paul Klee's Diary of a Trip to Tunisia.

"Since that time I have considered myself nothing but an artist (although at University I got a degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry). Dealing every day with people, creativity, cultures, history and, of course, different materials is always a great experience," says Riello. "What I have to add is that it is necessary to be very resilient and very self disciplined to get results. The common idea of the artist life as a 'layabout relaxing experience' is totally wrong. Being a professional artist is a job very serious and demanding, where one is fully-immersed around the clock."

Everyone who aspires to be an artist should have the words above stuck to their bathroom mirror to be read every day.

Riello, as noted, works in a wide variety of media. He is a painter, designer, sculptor, photographer. He also has worked in a medium many don't widely consider art (yet), video games. Video games, in many ways, are an avenue to raising consciousness that goes beyond a painting or sculpture--and it can be a positive or negative consciousness.

"My personal attitude is to find out, for every new idea of mine, it's perfect companion in terms of media. The match must be carefully chosen and planned. I don't like the idea of be enslaved by a particular technique or media," says Riello. "I want to master them instead and, in order to do that, for every work I arrange a team of specialists working with me (with the exception of drawings and painting usually)."

In 1996 a wave of immigrants arrived--mostly from Albania. Riello chose to make art about this arrival.

"I made it (using) my wicked and ambiguous nature: (it was) a playable video game named ITALIANI BRAVA GENTE (ITALIANS GOOD FELLOWS). (It was) a way to mock the new rising xenophobia  (and sometime even racism) of Italian people." he says.

The video game was noticed and was seen as a bit scandalous, which was part of his intent. He chose to use a video game as the media because most other media in Western society is politically correct. They do not truly reflect the negatives in society. Riello says that when it comes to "dirty matters" such as racism, colonialist attitudes, violence and war? Look at the games as a barometer.

"(People say) 'it is just a  game.... (but) if we want to see the filthy and embarrassing side of our lifestyle we should pay attention to the video games, actually a sort of moral garbage." he says.

Riello's game brings a moral component into the gaming universe.  Such games need not be "moral garbage." It is also fascinating how games have changed as they have become more a part of the larger society. There are numerous games that now have a moral component built in; moral decisions are part of the game. It is worth wondering if any of today's game designers know of Riello's early thoughts on the subject.

In 2017 Riello has work on exhibit at the Boca Raton Museum of Art that ends July 2, 2017. He also has solo exhibitions coming in London and Bologna.

"In May I take part of Biennale di Venenzia  with an installation of mine." he says.

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Sei Shimura, Based In Los Angeles Straddles The Line Between Fine And Commercial Art

3/1/2017

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by Patrick Ogle

Sei Shimura is a Los Angeles-based artist whose work straddles the line between fine art and commercial art. This, if you have the skill and mindset, is a great position for an artist; you can make a living and exercise your creativity simultaneously.

Shimura sees his fine art work as virtually inseparable from his commercial pieces
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"My art itself is almost an extension of my design and my design also is supported as my art as a digital medium.  My approach to art is much like how I approach designing a t-shirt graphic or a print.  My stencils are separated by color like a multi colored screen print would be," says Shimura. "Also my composition of my art is much like my design, as I like to use bold graphics with sharp lines mixed with an organic application of paint or textural materials. My art also supports my design work because it gives me an edge over other designers who just do service work for clients. People want my artistic perspective on their design projects. In a sense my design work is art , just on a more commercial medium.”  

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Find out more at  www.shimuradesign.com

He uses a variety of materials in his work.

"I work mostly with spray paint, stencils, and resin.  I like to combine many layers of paint and resin to create depth. On wooden panels, I like to make a background collage of various paper whether it be Japanese rice paper or money," he says. "Diamond dust is sold at any arts and crafts store and it is essentially finely ground glass."

Shimura's clients range from Coca Cola to Snoop Dogg and a vast array of other clients.

"Working with big corporate companies is great because of the exposure that they can provide but often can be limiting to the creativity as often you find yourself compromising your art to match the brands’ core values or requests that they may have," he says. "Working with music industry artists are much more fun and liberating as they are artists too and want you to do whatever you want as they appreciate your input and aesthetic."

To Shimura any line between the commercial and "fine" art is a thin one. Indeed fine artists have, for more than a generation depicted everyday consumer items in their work.

"I think that design is just commercial art because it's meant to be consumed by the mass.  But when Warhol puts a Brillo on a box or Campbell Soup packaging on a canvas it becomes art because of it's not a consumer product any more.  I think new logos can become art too if it's painted on a canvas." says Shimura.

Shimura wants his work to trigger nostalgia; his pieces incorporate objects from our past, our everyday lives. His work brings these objects back as images, symbols.

"I want people to understand the thought behind the appropriation of something old into something new," he says. "Beauty and aesthetics is something that kind of happens through the process and is sometimes an after thought of the message."
Shimura has made art and painted for most of his life. He became intrigued by the notion that you could make a living at art. It fascinated him that people would pay you to start with nothing and create something out of your own imagination. He also recognizes there is a balance.

"It’s a very attractive lifestyle to me. Being a starving artist is still much more desirable and respectable than being rich working for someone else. Passion over pension." he says.

In 2017 he is making more art with the aim of putting together a new solo show.
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