Carmine Bellucci

Carmine Bellucci is an Italian artist and illustrator working and living in Padua, Italy.He attended the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Milan and graduated in Visual Arts. Afterwards he continued his studies attending the advanced course in Type Design at Politecnico in Milan. He has worked with many international client. Besides his training and work he has been involved in the underground visual culture and kept up to date with the latest trends in urban subculture. He founded the Interplay Art group, landing several commissioned works and taking part in many local and national street art events.

Drawing and the ability to master the line has always been at the core of his artistic practice. Through colours and expressive strokes he is able to take line into the unknown. His uniquely vocabulary is a synthesis of classicism and bold modernity. Influences range from old graffiti and ancient Mediterranean civilizations to Jean Cocteau and modern culture. His works sway in an in-between state of reality and imagination, consistency and uncertainty, truth and mythos.

 

What’s your artistic background?

In my teens I grew up as a graffiti artist, an experience that definitely taught me a lot, about art as a spontaneous act of expression and about life in general. After high school i studied Visual Arts in Milan, where I learn a lot about graphic design and composition. After graduating I’ve worked in many fields, editorial, advertisement, illustration, fashion, etc…

 

What’s integral to the work of an artist?

Having a strong point of view, that expresses a personality and self-discipline. Being an artist is a life-long occupation, everything you do, even when sleeping, has a way to converge into art. If you have the art bug you are not afraid of turning ideas, vision and intuitions hovering somewhere in the air into something visible, that people can experience. An artist has to be true to himself, able to face failure, the blank canvas and turn it into something that didn’t exist before. He’s got to be ruthless on himself and willing to start again if the result doesn’t meet his vision, in terms of aesthetic and message.

What role does the artist have in society?

Artist is in the blessed and cursed position of leading the way. Climbing a huge mountain in search of purity, truth and the essence of a human being. He’s requested to bring to the world something that was not there to see. Artists are beacons of free spirit and remind us constantly that there’s more to us than meets the eye. We have emotions, mysterious energies and fascinating invisible dynamics that artists with their practice try delve into and investigate.

 

What art do you most identify with?

Painting and drawing.

What themes do you pursue?

I like with my artistic practice to cover many aspects of human existence, sense of loss, of joy, escapism, nature and the search for the paradise lost. I’ve developed my own personal visual vocabulary which draws from old graffiti and frescoes and mixes it up with modern culture.

 

What’s your favourite art work?

Garden frescoes in the House of the Golden Bracelet in Pompeii

Alexander mosaic from the House of the Faun in Pompeii

Tomb of the Diver – Paestum

Picasso’s Lysistrata

 

Describe a real-life situation that inspired you?

Well there are so many, a book wouldn’t be enough. One of them that I happily recall is when I used to live in Milan I was walking back home after a night out. It was springtime, there were few people in the road and even fewer cars…the night was calm and pleasing…all of a sudden in front of me passes by a man cycling down the road with a lovely cat in the rear basket. I’m not sure of it was a cat or a dog, I was going so fast and I wasn’t quick enough to see well who was in that basket. What I can remember is the expression of that lovely cat (or dog) enjoying the ride with such a joy and pleasure that really struck me. Instead I remember very well the sense of contentedness and pure happiness that I felt, so much that that simple lovely scene stuck in my mind and I’ve been keeping drawing and painting it ever since.

What jobs have you done other than being an artist?

Designer and graphic designer.

Why art?

Why not?

What is an artistic outlook on life?

Get to the core of things in a thoughtful way. Being able to be naive and profound at the same time. Being full of extremes. Taking things as they come and make the most out of them. Dancing to your own tune. Standing your ground with sensibility and fragility. Being open to confrontation without loosing your point of view. Being ready to change perspective, if need be, but also stubborn enough to be not influenced by others. Looking for perfection knowing that there isn’t any.

What memorable responses have you had to your work?

I’m always deeply moved when something I’ve painted in my isolated studio fits perfectly in a perfect stranger’s life situation. I remember when once told me that a painting of mine looked exactly what she had dreamed the night before. Another memorable moment has been when I was included among the 200 Best Illustrators worldwide by Luerzer’s Archive.

What food, drink, song inspires you?

 

A good breakfast with Greek yogurt, oat, fruit and nuts definitely inspires me! I love drinking oolong tea gong fu brewed. There are many songs that have inspired me and inspires me, if were to choose I’d go for Mario Gangi’s Panoramica.

Is the artistic life lonely? What do you do to counteract it?

Being known among friends as The Hermit, I would say yes. The artist is alone in his pursues he needs people to grow his sensitivity and he needs social life to experience human condition. The artist is a flaneur, he just doesn’t simply look, he sees trough and he is able to catch the energy of reality.

I tend to get very isolated in my studio, loosing myself in my work. I force myself to keep a tidy schedule and stick to it in order to balance work and social life with friends and loved ones. I work very hard in the morning, knowing that is the best part of the day for me, oftentimes I have lunch break alone, after it I go straight back to work and keep on painting until late afternoon. After that I spend time with my girlfriend or maybe have dinner with friends and have fun with them.

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What do you dislike about the art world?

The art world is too cliquey, a small closed circle that sometimes is very unfriendly with outsiders. Tight deadlines and the pressure for productivity can affect the quality and originality of the work. Sometimes artistic research must be kept outside commercial issues based on money and quick profit. Sometimes it looks like there’s only one path you should tread in order to succeed. Like in music and many art forms, if you don’t match the market request you’re going to be in trouble…should it be the market (or marketers) to lead the way or maybe should the market be trained to deal with creativity and it’s fragile dynamics?

What do you dislike about your work?

Deadlines and some people narrow-minded. It’s a kind of job subject to personal tastes which sometimes doesn’t really help you understand your value and doesn’t help your self-esteem. It requires strict discipline.

What do you like about your work?

Well, almost everything. It’s colourful, you get to invent something new every day. The thrill of the white space ready to be filled, not knowing exactly what your are going to get is truly exciting. Being able to get your hands dirty with materials is like walking the soil barefoot, feeling connection with something real and being at one with it.

Should art be funded?

Definitely. Art is education, it teaches people to live, to listen to each other, to allow mistakes and embrace imperfection. Art is inclusivity, is what come may, is simply being open to have a conversation. It keeps your mind engaged. Funds would allow art to be more democratic and widespread.

What role does arts funding have?

Arts funding has the role of fostering talents and freedom pursuers. It has to encourage artistic research, especially if driven by originality and uniqueness. Arts funding keeps art alive and as long as art is alive we can consider ourselves alive as well.

What is your dream project?

Maybe a huge public mural in a square. Or maybe something that has to do with sustainability, maybe a public work in an old town centre in South Italy.

Name three artists you’d like to be compared to.

Michelangelo, Keith Haring, Renato Guttuso, John Lennon.

Favourite or most inspirational place ?

Small old villages in South Italy. Trani and Fiumefreddo.

 

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Charles Buxton’s “You will never find time for anything. If you want time. You must make it”.

Professionally, what’s your goal?

Being true to myself and my point of view. Allowing myself to be inspired without loosing the way.

future plans?

I’m preparing an exhibition scheduled for Mid-September..and I’m very excited about it. Last months I’ve been working on a new body of work that reflects a very keen interest for anthropology. I’ve been studying ancient graffitis, old civilisations’ cultures and connection with their mainland. I’ve been experimenting with different materials. My work has taken now a gritty note to it that I quite like. But not too much…there’s still a lot to learn and to do!