Artworks by Alessandro Materazzi

"Every work is written in a language that doesn't exist until someone looks at it." (Alessandro Materazzi)
My research stems from writing and street art, worlds that have accompanied me to school desks, papers, and walls since I was a teenager. What has always fascinated me has never been only the meaning of words, but the ability of letters to transform into images through gesture. Over time, I realized that what I was looking for was not simply to draw letters, but to explore the relationship between language, emotion, and sign. My degree in Cultural Heritage and the study of art history have profoundly changed the way I observe and experience painting. I began to see writing no longer as a tool for communicating a precise message, but as a subject capable of evoking emotions without necessarily having to be understood. Since then, my work has taken a different direction: letters have progressively lost their semantic value to become forms, rhythm, balance, and movement. Improvisation is at the heart of my creative process. I don't make preparatory sketches and rarely know the final composition before starting. Each line arises from the previous, each gesture suggests the next. I let instinct and the emotional state of the moment guide the work, until I construct compositions that recall unknown alphabets or languages that never existed. When someone observes one of my works, the question I am asked most often is: "What is written?" My answer is always the same. I believe that there are already many languages recognized and shared by the entire world, which are necessary for people to understand and understand each other. My research does not arise from the desire to invent a new one, but to imagine a language that does not need to be translated. A language that leaves room for interpretation, in which each person can find something different. For this reason my works do not have a correct reading: they acquire meaning only in the encounter with those who observe them. Over the years this research has naturally come off the canvas. I started painting walls, clothing, bodies through body painting, and finally, skin with tattoos. It changes the support, but it does not change the principle: transforming the sign into an emotional experience and creating an authentic connection between the work and the person.
Today Barcelona represents the place where I can best express this research. His creative energy, cultural cross-fertilization, and vibrant art scene fuel my work every day. At the same time, I continue to maintain a strong bond with Milan, a city I return to regularly for collaborations, commissions, and new projects, and where I always feel at home. I don't consider my works something to read. I consider them places to cross. Every picture is an open dialogue, written in a language that belongs to no one and which, precisely for this reason, can belong to anyone willing to listen to it with their eyes.