The Artisans

Born in Empoli in 1955 and now based in Castelfiorentino, Antonio D’Ambrosio has been capturing fragments of space and time through his photographs since 1978. In 1982, he joined the “Giglio Rosso '' photography club in Castelfiorentino, which he presided over between 1984 and 2007. He collaborates with both private and public institutions on catalogs, books, and documents celebrating local architectural-environmental heritage. French critic J.C. Lemagny selected some of his photos and registered them in the prints and photography sections at the National Library of France.

Painter Alessandro Florio, who was born in Taormina, Sicily, first got in touch with the artistic environment through the world of tattoos, which he is very passionate about. The connection between painting and tattooing lies in his necessity for expression, the most intimate one, that allows him to describe how he feels. The switch from his activity as a tattoo artist to a painter came while he was visiting the Louvre in Paris, and by seeing the works of the Old Masters, he felt the necessity of working on bigger subjects and not just small ones like those that are typical in tattoos. In his works, there are elements that recall both his Sicilian roots, and are also influenced by Oriental art and the respect for nature.

Marco Gaviraghi Calloni is an artist with a passion for the artisanal tradition of industrial design. His objects are meticulously hand made in raw iron and corten steel and the various colors and irregularity of their surface change in time in a constant transformation process. These are everyday objects seen through the eyes of an artist and rigorously built around the fundamentals of geometry.

Painter and visual artist Samantha Torrisi lives and works on the foothills of Sicily’s Etna volcano. After graduating from Catania’s Academy of Fine Arts, she directed her research into multi-media art, resulting in a series of original paintings inspired by cinema, video clips, and personal footage. Environmental issues and transformative human nature are recurring themes in her pieces. She has showcased her art at the Riso - Contemporary Art Museum of Sicily, The Project Gallery Athens, and the Italian Cultural Institute of Paris, to name a few.

A small artisanal workshop located in the center of Sicily, Artema Galli is a testament to the island’s rich traditions. Passion and innovation merge in the artisans’ interpretation of cultural heritage, crafting unique pieces entirely by hand, most notably the signature, contemporary-style Moor’s heads. Artisans follow traditional crafting methods to bring to life timeless yet somehow magical creations.

Based in Pisa, Alberto & Mario Ghezzani is a third-generation family-run interior design firm offering sleek and modern luxury furniture collections for high-end commercial and residential interiors. A combination of traditional crafting techniques and innovative technologies, enlivened with sustainable finishes, varnishes, and dainty decorations, results in pieces that are singular in both design and character.

Pipedesign is an Italian interior design brand deriving its name from iron rods, one of their most used raw materials which they deftly transform into original geometric pieces. The expertise of local master artisans combines with novel technologies such as 3D printing to reveal essential, light, and versatile furniture designs and lighting fixtures. Pieces can be entirely tailor-made to suit any decor, taste, or need. Wood, iron, glass, and marble are also featured in their exceptional designs, never ceasing to captivate in their timeless elegance.

Teresa Lobelia D’arienzo is an Italian artist known for her contemporary vases made using century-old techniques. She works with large and light forms placed on smaller or narrow bases, creating tension between the idea of stability and fragility. The juxtaposition of lightness, rawness, and precariousness inspires a series marked by imperfection and dynamic movement. Her creative process is intuitive, responding to an overall feeling for a form or a surface, and the objects that come to life are containers dressed in texture.

After completing his Architectural studies, Pino Procopio felt the need to communicate emotions through figurative art, following the steps of the Primitivism current. Procopio paints everyday life happenings, making them surreal, with fantastic and deformed figures, as if reflected by convex mirrors. He paints mythologies that describe the tale of the Greek gods, their weaknesses, loves, conflicts, passions, deceptions and betrayals. Animals are a constant in his works to denounce their suffering at this particular moment in history. Procopio also realizes sculptures with salvaged materials and with polychrome bronze castings through the intaglio technique.

Piero Mollica's shots evoke early twentieth-century photography when the newly invented technique was preparing to abandon naturalism to access the languages of the most advanced modernist painting. Piero Mollica's technique is based on Fine Art and the focus is on the basic relationship between the subject and the construction of habitable space. Mollica's research consists in transforming the image, starting from the conscious renunciation of its immediate description.

Born in Castellammare di Stabia in 1970, Federico Lombardo currently lives and works in Ciampino, Roma. Completing studies in Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples, his research focuses on exploring the shape and spirit of man through bold brushstrokes and daring colors. His works have been exhibited at the Monade in Federico Rui A. Contemporanea Gallery, Milan (2018), Ai confini della pittura in BQB Gallery, Rome (2016), Experimenta, Collezione Farnesina at the Ministero degli Affari Esteri (2009), and Point of departure at Dean Project New York (2007), among others.

Photographer Carlo D’Orta has been capturing bits and pieces of the world with his camera for over forty years. Between 2002-2012 he studied contemporary art and painting at the Rome University of Fine Arts and received a Master’s degree in Photography at the IED Institute in Milan. His photos are characterized by a bold pictorial influence and focus on architecture, landscape, dance, and portraits. He has presented solo exhibits around the world, notably “Beyond the Lens” in Venice in 2015 and the National Museum of Singapore in 2017.

Angelo Bellobono is a Roman-born artist who has traveled around the world capturing the relationship between humankind and nature. Merging disciplines such as anthropology and geology with the concepts of identity, boundaries, and territory, he experiments with his sense of “corporal” belonging, skillfully moving from one mountain landscape to another. Ice and mountains are recurring elements in his works, symbolizing the Earth’s memory and connecting bridges between cultures and countries.

Milan-based painter Milena Sgambato graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. In 2011, she was selected to participate in the 54° Venice Biennale with the Italian pavilion, representing the Campania region. From that moment on, her works have been exhibited in many museums and contemporary art galleries, such as the Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Caserta, and the Costantini Art Gallery of Milan.

Born and raised in Milan, Valentina Sommariva is a multi-hyphenate photographer. After receiving her Architecture Degree and studying Design at Brunel University in London, she attended the Contemporary Image master's course at Fondazione Fotografia Modena (2012-2014). She is also a member of the Italian Chartered Institute of Journalists, specializing in portraits, catalogs, interior design, and ad campaigns. She has exhibited her works worldwide and has been published by The Guardian, AD Italia, Financial Times, Elle Decor Italia, Holland, and Russia.

Giuseppe Lo Schiavo is an award-winning visual artist currently living and working between London and Milan. AI, machine learning, infrared systems, and virtual reality are all featured in his works, which are often focused on creation-destruction, past-future, and analog-digital. Winner of the European project BioArt Challenge, his current research on art and synthetic biology is supported by MUSE, Cardiff, and Zurich Universities. Museums and galleries worldwide hosted his works, also published on BBC, Vice, Inside Art, and Elle Decor, among others.

Giulio Boem is an Italian photographer who documents art, design, and architecture with impressive style. After graduating from the DAMS in Bologna specializing in public photographic archives, he began collaborating with numerous public and private institutions on editorial projects and digital fine-art printing. His collections have been acquired by Goldman Sachs, Unipol, and Ferragamo Lungarno Collections, among others.

A contemporary artist and painter from the Italian province of Como, Ilaria Franza graduated in Experimental Arts at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. Renowned for her deft use of color, she works alongside interior and product designers to create exclusive paintings for modern decors. Her artworks offer a different perspective on the outer and inner worlds, leading the audience to an unexplored area of the mind that draws inspiration from Romanticism.

On the scene since 1967, Santi Caleca worked as a photojournalist for the Palermitan newspaper “L’Ora” before moving to Milan for work. A fortuitous meeting with Casa Vogue’s former editor Isa Vercelloni in 1976 paved the way for a professional evolution, adapting the language of photography to interior design and architecture. His encounter with Ettore Sottsass in 1977 earned him a friendship and collaboration that lasted for over 30 years. Santi Caleca creates press campaigns and catalogs for renowned architecture firms, galleries, and museums worldwide.

Born in Naples and currently based in Milan, Adriano Annino is a prolific, all-around artist whose vision is best expressed through the convergence and blend of diverse artistic languages. His degrees in Music Theory and Trumpet from the Conservatory preceded and inspired his experimentation with painting to explore contemporary approaches to art. His artworks have been showcased in solo exhibits and major exhibitions such as the 2019 “Corpi Eloquenti” in Monza, “Eléphant Paname” in Paris, and “Angry Boys” at the Det Ny Kastet Museum in Thisted, Denmark.