Ivano Vitali was born in Argenta (Ferrara) in 1952

and lives in Via F. Puccinotti,10 - 50129 Florence  Italy

Cell. 0039 328 113 41 44 (Italian) - 0039 328 3760574 (English)

 

Ecologist, sculptor and performer, he has always had a special feeling for trees: in order to save them he recycles newspapers.

Already in his years in Impruneta (1974-1979) he modelled balls out of them or he studied the graphic signs which strips of newspaper left when thrown in the air.

But it was in 1996 that newspaper became his personal “obsession”. He started to wear newspaper strips during his performances. The series “In honour of American Indians.” was particularly significant.

His career as an artist had an important turning point in 2002, when he decided to wear clothes made out of newspaper for his performances. He learnt from his mother how to  knit, crochet and sew and started to transform pages into threads of every size: he obtains them by twisting the strips together without using scissors or glue. He uses no water in the process, so people can read the words and letters of the newspapers used to make jackets, waistcoats, gowns, objects as if they were “art books” documenting a moment in our history. The fact that no colour is added makes it possible to recognize in each garment or tapestry  the heading of the newspaper, whereas the monochrome pieces reveal a patient choice of advertisements. The tools such as needles, crochet-hooks etc. are often created by Ivano himself so that his creation becomes exactly what he intended.

In 2005 Ivano started to make very big objects with newspapers: as with the "zoom in” installation , which consisted in giant knitting needles, giant balls of wool and knitted fabric. The result is a “tape-stry”, that is tapestry and archive together.

Also recent “tape-centres”, made with a giant crochet-hook, which can be worn as ponchos, can be considered archives, a portable and wearable newspaper library.

The latest performances are sometimes real fashion shows, and are playful, spectacular and didactic at the same time: with newspapers Ivano weaves, knits, crochets, sews and produces all the possible sounds that paper can make.

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