“The grass is always greener on the other side," explains the striking young artist. “And it’s even greener with a green card!”
Born in Italy, Michele Castagnetti spent his formative years in Rome. After discovering he had a penchant for design, he moved to Piacenza and studied graphic design at the nearby Ateneo Creativo in Milan.
At nineteen, he ventured to New York City where he received a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts at the Fashion Institute of Technology and found himself at ease in the Big Apple.
“I landed at JFK in 1991 and lived in New York ten years before moving to Los Angeles. In Italy, I lived between Piacenza and Rome, which were considerably different cities. I thought, ‘Um, I get it.’”
To Castagnetti, ‘getting it’ meant examining the stark differences between Europe and the US.
“There are obviously huge cultural differences between Europe and the States. The fact that European cities are so embedded in architecture and art is fascinating and arresting. Although, I find such a high intensity of culture a bit intimidating and arresting in the other sense. Comparisons are constantly being drawn to the great artists of the past in an academic style. I find the American art landscape more free of such constant framing. There’s a certain openness which can be as addictive as lattes. After living in the States for a while, most Europeans, for as much as they might complain about the American system or style, rarely move back (visa permitting).”
Never abandoning the love of his roots he finds the structure Europe offers, with her fountains, squares, cafes, opera houses and museums, unbeatable.
“Yet I feel that Europe is still victim of a BMW-Rolex small town mentality,” he adds, “And that can be very destructive.”
However, when it comes to his art, he finds that the present climate is hotter than ever.
“Culturally, I think that art is blowing up, wilder and more provocative. In Europe, there are countless exhibitions sponsored by banks and cell phone providers; in the States, fairs like Art Basel and even Burning Man have become some of the most relevant artistic events worldwide.”
Working as an Art Director at a number of high profile New York and Los Angeles advertising agencies, Castagnetti takes his European background and seamlessly mixes it with the education and cultural exposure he’s attained in the US.
Combining photography, digital art, and painting, art allows him the freedom of expression, and a life lived solely off of his art, that might have otherwise been more difficult in Europe.
“Anything coming out of a melting pot of international personalities and artists cannot be but good and inspiring. The peculiarity of this time is the level of access we have to an immense database of information which shortens the distance between continents and ideas,” he explains.
With work regularly published in Rojo and Victim Magazine, he’s also been published in the Graphis, The Best of Photography book, and in the Italian book CMYK. His art film, Midsummer Dream, was also nominated by the Italian Academy of Film for a Donatello for best short film.
“The best advantage that an advertising background brings is that I don’t feel so attached to a specific style like many artist do for the rest of their lives. Working as an Art Director teaches you as an artist that there are many ways to express an idea and there are many styles to express such content. Basically it teaches you not to be so much up your own ass, which is a good thing.”
Regardless of commercial success, his fine art career keeps calling. Beautiful girlfriends appear like ready muses and stacks of canvas rest at his feet.
His first solo show, “Les Femmes Fatales” was received with great reviews at the Red House Gallery in Venice as well as at group shows at the Farmani Gallery in Beverly Hills.
With these paintings, he captured a wide spectrum of emotions in the faces of his models. Playing about with light and dark, positive and negative, his “Femme Fatales” spoke to the mythical quality glorified, and sometimes feared, within women.
The objectified and objectifier. The gentle and the tumultuous.
His new series “Systems” is thematically similar, yet stylistically quite different. Modern, clean, and digital in its approach, the series was sold out at the gallery of The Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) in Barcelona.
He found the inspiration in something one wouldn’t expect. “The Systems series originated in Barcelona where I was struck by a 1960’s wallpaper pattern. The colors were selected from a palette I’ve been editing for years. The pattern used connects different colors in a harmonic way: the brown of the earth and the orange of the desert; the green of plants and forests; blues of water, oceans and sky; the red of the sun, planets and fire; white of air and winds.
"'Originality consists in returning to the origin,’ as Antonio Gaudí said,” explains Castagnetti.
“I tend to admire specific art pieces rather than one artist per say. “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by Bosch – at the Prado in Madrid – is simply mesmerizing. Yet I’m not familiar with any of his other pieces or biographical facts, and his style is completely different from my own.”
“Change,” as one wise man once said, “it the only constant.” And Michele feels it’s one thing that’s crucial to the development of an artist.
“I believe that a pivotal moment for any artist is the moment of change,” he explains. “When you forget yourself and depart towards a completely different direction, in style, technique and purpose. My series “Systems” is completely different from “Les Femmes Fatales.” Artists cannot forget that the most important thing about art is the experimental. Somehow you come up with something new by doing something new, almost accidentally. I started a painting just by painting a canvas blue. Three days later, I found a Japanese flower motif that inspired an entire series. I remember a friend tossing a penny onto one of my pieces. After cursing at him, I looked at the penny and realized that a copper background would look perfect, and so I began.”
