Piazza Dante Alighieri, showcase on Albisola Superiore, gets a makeover for Valentine’s Day. Ceramics will be the protagonist with the initiative ‘Osvaldo and urban art in Albisola’ by the artist-designer Paolo Pastorino. From February 14th, the clearing overlooking Corso Ferrari will in fact be populated by colorful characters from the ‘Osvaldo’ series, which is inspired by the Art Toy Movement. For the occasion, some unpublished pieces created in Experimental art studio in Albisola. The urban restyling project was launched in the summer of 2020, to inaugurate the roundabout, by the councilor for culture of Albisola Superiore, Simona Poggi, with ‘Il Giardino di Dan-te’ curated by Jean Blanchaert. And after Paolo Anseimo’s fish, it will be the turn of the Savonese artist, creator of Urbantoi (the abbreviated form for urban toys), a project that was born as a mixture of elements related to manga, anime and video game illustrations. It is precisely with this return to childhood that Albisola will celebrate the month of love.
* An artistic look at the city, an open-air exhibition and a visiting card for tourists, as a sign of a new start: this is how Pastorino presents “Osvaldo and urban art in Al-bisola” through his characteristic bunnies with zoomorphic shapes and minimal features. “With their iridescent colours, Paolo Pastorino’s ironic characters will conquer the city with that light-heartedness that we would like to transmit to all the inhabitants of Albisola. An understanding was immediately reached with the artist, who understood and accepted the idea despite his numerous commitments. Organizing this inauguration well in advance is a conquest for us, given the difficult period. A small victory that I dedicate to the world of culture. The choice of Piazza Dante Alighieri is not accidental. On the one hand it will allow us to admire the works in an open, and therefore safe, space, on the other we will carry forward the urban artistic restyling project”, comments the assessor Simona yet another test, Pastorino imposes on his style a neo-popART imprint in which technology and the playful evocation of youthful heritage will be the masters. Since 1996, his works have toured Liguria and then passed through the main Italian cities, Milan and Turin, and internationally, as on the occasion àé [YArt3f-Salon international d’ art contemporain. “The intent is to maintain a direct line between urban art and my city, trying to give a connotation to the tradition of ceramics that is a little out of the ordinary, experimenting and playing. Valuing one’s places of origin is important”, explains Paolo Pastorino.
From Il Letimbro of 02/02/2022