Quazàr – Faenza Art District will host a unique exhibition featuring Italian artist Livio Ninni on May 18, on view until August 31, 2018.

Mutation. Urban Material will feature several works by contemporary artist Livio Ninni. The Distretto A – Faenza Art District association, promoter of the Urban Art Contest, and Arkey Lab association, whose main goal is to create a connection between urban art and architecture, have found in Livio Ninni’s multifaceted and one of a kind style the perfect expression of their ideas and goals.

Mutation. Urban Material is part of the long list of events organized by Faenza Art District, which every year attract many visitors, especially on the weekend dedicated to art and entertainment (May 18th – 20th, 2018).

The artist uses a multidisciplinary language to convey his message and a wide range of techniques and materials to create his works. Livio Ninni draws his inspiration mainly from urban landscapes, deserted and abandoned places where Urban Art (also referred to as Street art) merges with the landscape, becoming its extension. In his works, photographs are transferred to rusty metal panels and surfaces. This way, the rusty effect of the metal “spoils” the surface and gives birth to the painting texture, typical of Livio Ninni’s works.

Photography is usually central to Livio Ninni’s works but in Mutation. Urban Materials it simply turns out to be a starting point, a mere tool to be used to achieve the artist’s ultimate objective. Photographs are used to seize a particular moment, thus creating a continuum of space and time.

Photography certainly conveys a deeper meaning to his works but it is actually the transposition of pictures onto different surfaces (iron/wood) which lies at the very heart of this collection. This process consists of a few, yet precise steps in order to get to the transposition of the image onto the previously chosen surface. The picture is then printed and the image transferred to the surface by using a transfer gel.

The painting elements – spray and acrylic paint - create irregular shapes, which moves on the surface and this reinforces the idea of transformation which constantly occurs over time. In order to better define his work, Livio Ninni superimposes the urban landscape, created by the image-transferring techniques, on this background.

As a finishing touch the artist draws graphic minimal lines which recalls the architectural perspectives of the environment. These lines are a way of conveying a sense of safety, stability and landscape evolution. The landscape has eventually succeeded in integrating with man and nature, in a silent and slightly oppressive way.

The main aim of Mutation. Urban Material is that of bringing to light the mutation process of the urban landscape: the transformation of different urban facilities, the decline of concrete and iron, the urban elements which are central to Livio Ninni’s research, given their power to gradually invade Nature and eventually transform it.