RIFFBLAST
RIFFBLAST is an Italian artist, born in Bologna, Italy.
My journey in art began in early childhood, raised in the countryside by a stimulating and creative family that has supported me since I started painting and creating wood carvings.
At the age of 17 I started collaborating with skate and surfing companies to create board graphics. This world introduced me to the true love of hardcore punk subculture that has influenced my way of seeing art for years.
After a short but intense experience in the fashion world that helped me to develop commercial knowledge, in 2015 I decided without any certification or security to go back to painting and creating art.
My approach to the art world has not been academic, as for anyone who approaches this profession, I am still facing a slow path thanks to events and social media that is making me grow day by bay.
For a couple of years I have been collaborating with various galleries around the world, from Italy to the United States, actively participating in solo and group exhibitions.
How would you define your style?
I don’t have a precise or defined style, let’s say I do what I like.
After a couple of years spent trying to make art according to other people’s taste, I decided that the easiest and most effective way is to do exactly what I feel at the moment.
What is customization for you?
It’s a lifestyle, personalization can also be a tattoo or the way you eat pizza, it’s not a concept necessarily related to something in particular.
Customization is "a lifestyle".
What inspired you to customize the Jumpsuit?
I wanted to mix the flavor of the old studded leather jacket of the ‘70s / ‘80s with the traditional oriental tattoo culture.
How did you make it?
Using various techniques, from screen printing to painting with bleach.
What are your favorite subjects and the techniques you prefer?
I have been collecting old religious chromolithographs for years and with those bright pastel colors, they are my favorite subjects compared to a white canvas.
Painting with acrylic colors, although it is the most “banal” way to paint, is my favorite, lately I’m experimenting a lot with wood, creating real sculptures that come out of the frames.
And why the Saints? Is there a particular reason?
It was really accidental to combine my art with the sacred one. Certain movements or the positions in which the figures are portrayed trigger the idea of portraying them in ways that the original artist would never have imagined (of course, it was another era, you might say). I like to think that in a world where everything was still to be written and created, someone had already thought that in the future there would be a Riffblast that would blast his paintings.
How difficult is it to be RIFFBLAST? Or rather, how difficult is it to always go a bit further without ever crossing the thin line of provocation?
We live in a world where everything or almost everything is now cleared through customs, being Riffblast today is almost more fun than difficult, there have been years when I was attacked hard for my work, but I have always motivated my choices with intelligent answers that have calmed people down; where unfortunately they don’t get it, you can still claim that art is free.
