During summer 2013 Opiemme started “A journey through painting and poetry“. A project inspired by the first steps in his artistic quest: bringing poetry closer to people. With a series of public poetic paintings, concieved in a site specific way, with attention to local poets, Opiemme created a poetic route (of street poetry) that simbolically crosses Italy from North to South.
18 murals: from 30 to 180 square meters, a 7 km “River of words” painted on the pavements of Turin, 3 bus stop, and a site-specific for a performance.
Poems and texts by: E. A Poe, Giovanni Pascoli, S. Francesco D’Assisi, Louise Armstrong, Franco Arminio, Giacomo Leopardi, System of a Down, local poets from Menfi (Sicily), Riccardo Bacchelli, and others.
More than 5000 Km by train and bus
This project was covered ZIGULINE webzine, and supported by: Elastico Studio and Antonio Storelli (Bologna), 3)5 Artecontemporanea (Rieti), Bi-BOx Art Space (Biella), Studio D’Ars (Milano).
Here are the words by Jaime Rojo and Steven Harrington, co-founders of Brooklyn Street Art
“What do you write?” For decades graffiti writers have been checking out one anothers’ bonafides with this question. Even as tags turned to large complex pieces, evermore stylized through means of exaggeration or obfuscation, text has always stayed as a fundamental building block for graffiti writers. Italian fine artist and Street Artist Opiemme took a variety of routes to employ the text-based art on the street this summer with his “journey through painting and poetry,” a project inspired by poets he loves. Breaking apart, recombining, stretching and spreading the written letterform, the public poetic paintings were conceived to be site-specific and included walls and pavement installations across Italy from north to south, including Torino, Bologna, Rieti, Pizzo Calabro, Faggiano (Taranto), Ariano Irpino, Menfi, Genova, Tirano (Sondrio), and finally Rome. “I paint using stencil and letter to create images to be read and words to be looked at,” says Opiemme, who travelled more than 5,000 kilometers by train and bus to do his various installations that included 15 murals and a 7 kilometer long “River of words” painted on the pavement in Turin. With the help of a webzine, a few galleries, and even the city of Turin, Opiemme found a receptive audience for his works, perhaps because he chose scribes known and admired in the locations he created works for. Among them are local writers and poets mixed with the American Jazz musician Louis Armstrong and Armenian-American rock band System of a Down. Also included are Edgar Allan Poe, Giovanni Pascoli, S. Francesco D’Assisi, Franco Arminio, Giacomo Leopardi, and Riccardo Bacchelli. Opiemme says he likes to explore the border between poetry and image, public and private, and to use the printed word as a graphic element on which to build more meanings, even as he sometimes disconnects the letters from their original context. With work that often touches on social or environmental themes his work has evolved onto the street and into the gallery in the 10+ years he has been practicing. For the Turin born Opiemme it is about plumbing the fine lines between public art, Street Art, and the written word to bring poetry out into the open. Permission granted for photography used here by Opiemme, who wishes to thank photographers Cristina Principale (Bologna), Mario Covotta, Floriano Cappelluzzo (Ariano Irpino), Claudia Giraud, Thut Duong Nguyen (Torino), Livio Ninni, Ilaria Massaccesi (Tirano), Alessandro Orlandi (Rieti), Stencil Noire Cut (Faggiano), Giorgio De Finis (Roma), Donato Aquaro, Martina Serra, Sara Spallarossa, Francesco Mancini, Marco Pezzati (Genova), Anna Milano, Ivan Barreca (Menfi). Copyright is retained by photographer and the artist. This project was covered/followed in stages by ZIGULINE webzine, Opiemme’s journey was supported by: Elastico Studio and Antonio Storelli (Bologna), 3)5 Artecontemporanea (Rieti), Bi-BOx Art Space (Biella), and Studio D’Ars (Milano).
After three months travelling through Italy the first steps and murals of this project are done. With a series of poetic paintings, concieved in a site specific way, with attention to local poets, with texts able to represent a part of the culture of the visited places, Opiemme created a poetic route of street poetry, that simbolically crosses Italy from North to South. “A jourmey through painting and poetry” is a public
art project and a Manifesto of the aims expressed by Opiemme since the beginning of it’s quest: “bringing poetry closer to people, to renew communication channels, and searching new ways of presenting poetry.” Opiemme moved a step forward in bringing street poetry deep into muralism, passing from ephemeral actions to images and words painted and visible in public spaces and daily life spots.
This project was covered by ZIGULINE webzine, and supported by: Portanova12 (Bologna), 3)5 Artecontemporanea (Rieti)
18 murals: from 30 to 180 square meters, a 7 km “River of words” painted on the pavements of Turin, 3 bus stops, and a site-specific installation for a performance
Poems and texts by: E. A Poe, Giovanni Pascoli, S. Francesco D’Assisi, Louise Armstrong, Franco Arminio, Giacomo Leopardi, System of a Down, local poets from Menfi (Sicily), Riccardo Bacchelli, and others
“Italian fine artist and Street Artist Opiemme took a variety of routes to employ the text-based art on the street this summer with his “journey through painting and poetry,” a project inspired by poets he loves. Breaking apart, recombining, stretching and spreading the written letterform, the public poetic paintings were conceived to be site-specific and included walls and pavement installations across Italy from north to south, including Torino, Bologna, Rieti, Pizzo Calabro, Faggiano (Taranto), Ariano Irpino, Menfi, Genova, Tirano (Sondrio), and finally Rome. With the help of a webzine, a few galleries, and even the city of Turin, Opiemme found a receptive audience for his works, perhaps because he chose scribes known and admired in the locations he created works for. Among them are local writers and poets mixed
with the American Jazz musician Louis Armstrong and Armenian-American rock band System of a Down. Also included are Edgar Allan Poe, Giovanni Pascoli, S. Francesco D’Assisi, Franco Arminio, Giacomo Leopardi, and Riccardo Bacchelli. Opiemme says he likes to explore the border between poetry and image, public and private, and to use the printed word as a graphic element on which to build more meanings, even as he sometimes disconnects the letters from their original context. With work that often touches on social or environmental themes his work has evolved onto the street and into the gallery in the 10+ years he has been practicing. For the Turin born Opiemme it is about plumbing the fine lines between public art, Street Art, and the written word to bring poetry out into the open.”
Guest of Bunker, in Turin. Opiemme painted the famous poem “The Raven” by E. A. Poe and a letters ball, a bit of practice before leaving for the journey.
Originally entitled: “The pig and the young lady” Soundtrack by Signal Electrique (Fr) Footage by Jacopo Montaldo
After shooting the female actor didn’t want to appear in the video, scared of being called “Miss shit”. In order not to waste this footage, Opiemme decided to patiently cover her face in each frame with letters to express her feelings.
In January 2011 this action took place again in Turin as a group performance by citizens and schoolchildren. An article by L. Indemini on La Stampa
A project by Manuela Colombera for Il Gabbiano, with Studio D’Ars (Question Mark, Milan) and Square23 Gallery (Turin). Thanks to Livio Ninni for the photos.
“Crossing the bridge that leads to the industrial area you can see a gray building. A former prison. Approaching, one realizes that the structure is not completely gray. On the facade a cascade of colours seems to come from a fireplace. It is Opiemme’s cascade, and I think it can be considered a symbol of the transformation of this building. It is a former penitentiary, and now it literally oozes colours and emotions. The prison, seen from the outside, would seem to be a prison if… Opiemme had not passed by Valtellina.” Daniel Decia
Artists: Anamaken, Mrfijodor, Corn79, Orticanoodles, Urbansolid Art, Alex Caligaris, SeaCreative, Andrea Ravo Mattonii, Etnik, Opiemme, Akab, Alexander Tenia, Ale Puro, Skià.
A record mural. A river of words on the pavements of Turin: seven kilometers signed by Opiemme. Water has no shape, it’s docile and malleable because it adapts to whatever it encounters. And it is exactly water the theme that has united two neighborhoods, Barca and Bertolla on the northern outskirts of Turin. Once known as the district of washerwomen and boaters. An area however, in which small shops are being smouthered by large supermarket chains. In order to try to change, at least in part, this situation, a project was created one year ago to support local trade called Relive Barca Bertolla. The idea is to capitalize on public space which, based on a proposal by the Public Baths of Via Agliè, will be an urban installation of street art and poetry by the artist Opiemme, who will decorate 7km of pavements with a river of words, connecting in this way the two areas with writing on the theme of water – an element which has marked the history of both neighbourhoods. […]
An article by Claudia Giraud on Artribune Photos by Thuy Duong Nguyen and Claudia Giraud
“This sea is full of voices, this sky is full of visions…” On words by Giovanni Pascoli
“Butterfly” Inspired to Arrigo Boito’s “Dualism” “I am light and darkness; angelic Butterfly or filthy vermin I am a fallen cherub Damned to roam on earth, Or a rising demon, Exhausting his wings, To a far away sky”
“…and sinking in this sea is sweet to me” The Infinite, Giacomo Leopardi
Thanks to 3)5 Arte Contemporanea and the Municipality of Rieti, Opiemme lands in Rieti. In collaboration with Mother Nature Opiemme realized a site specific based on the Latin words of “Laudes Creaturatum” by St. Francis (San Francesco). The stencils move through moss and lichens, creating a mural, around 40 meters in length, infused into its surroundings within the Sanctuary of St. Fabian, Sanctuary of the Forest. St. Francis arrived in this beautiful place in September, 1225. There, immersed in the intense emerald greenery of the woods and nurtured by the sound of the springs St. Francis, in all likelihood, wrote Praise of the Creatures. “Cammino di Francesco”
The second mural is in memory of Antonio Sallustri, the barber of Villa Reatina district, and his love for the sea.
“Venne l’uomo santo e rifuggendo la pompa del mondo e la conversazione degli uomini…” Anonimo Reatino, Actus Beati Francisci in Valle Reatina, VII, 35, a c. di A. Cadderi, Assisi, Edizioni
“Show me your dog is and I’ll tell you who you are”, Riccardo Bacchelli (Bologna, 19 April 1891 – Monza, 8 October 1985). After painting a tribute to Giovanni Pascoli, Opiemme is back in Bologna.
Photos: Cristina Principale Courtesy Elastico Studio Gallery
A performance for F.A.C.K. Festival in Cesena by Opiemme and OperaRotas in MARATONA PERFORMANCE, curated by Paolo Angelosanto. “In search of lost means of communication on a carpet of stars and letters, amidst dreams, hopes and doubts, the performer (OperaRotas) embodies Gaia Earth, ethereal and pure, which is seeking to re-establish contact with humanity through words and poetry.” Photos by Abele Gasparini
A new mural in Bologna, dedicated to Italian poet Giovanni Pascoli (San Mauro di Romagna 1855- Bologna, 1912).
August 10th Translation Dia Tsung
Saint Lawrence, I know why so many shooting stars in the tranquil air blaze and tumble: it is because of the great weeping in the glittering vault of heaven.
A swallow was retuning to the roof: they killed her – she fell among thorns. She held in her beak an insect, the dinner for her little ones.
A part of the “Revitilizing Barca and Bertolla” project involved the local merchants, who were invited to chose an artistic happening that would enliven their neighbourhood. The project is now entering its final stage, and the merchants chose the artistic event that combines poetry with street art in the form of an installation by Opiemme. The author classifies the installation, called “A river of words from Barca to Bertolla”, as a “poetic painting”. The installation on one hand will create added value for the neighbourhood, and on the other it will bring its inhabitants closer to art and poetry. All this thanks to Opiemme, an artist and street poet, who will decorate the pavements with a river of words, connecting in this way the two areas with writings on the theme of water — the element that has marked the history of both neighbourhoods, in the past inhabited by washerwomen and boaters. The event was inaugurated in the first week of July and it aims at decorating 7 km of pavements along Strada San Mauro and Strada Settimo. This initiative was designed to address the need of giving to both of these streets their own character, to establish a connection between Barca and Bertolla and, last but not least, to make use of two busy roads to create a visible artistic event. The project is carried out with the support of the District 6 of the city of Turin, and realized thanks “Bagni Pubblici di Via Agliè”.
Torino, 2013
RIeti, 2013
Pizzo Calabro, 2013
