We shift the focus now to the Municipal Theatre graphics project and in particular the campaign that foregrounds the Porticoes. Our interview with Maurizio Tarantino, head of Communications and Marketing of the Municipal Theatre of Bologna Foundation can be found here. Let's put a few questions to the creator of the illustrations being noticed by everyone in the city: Riccardo Guasco, an internationally renowned artist and since 2020 the creator of the iconographic campaigns of our theatre.
First of all, thank you very much for accepting our invitation.
To begin with, can you tell us about your training?
I have always had a passion for drawing and I have always been lucky enough to attend art schools that have given me a strong direction and the basis to support this vocation. I attended the State Institute of Art in Asti and later the Turin Academy of Art and I have wonderful memories of both schools.
When did you realise that graphics and illustration could become your profession?
My initial intention was not to be an illustrator; I went to art schools because my inclination was certainly towards the world of images but I did not have clear ideas about choosing to make a profession of it. It became clear over time, looking at how advertising and books used images of artists that I had never seen in art history books. Those images were seen in homes and in the streets. They were direct and ably communicated a message very quickly. That way I discovered illustrators and fell in love with their work.
Being an illustrator has brought me into contact with the most varied fields of interest and application, from theatre to advertising, from cinema to design and from fashion to furniture. I discovered that illustration was a vehicle, a means that led me to explore roads that I never imagined I would travel.
Effective storytelling has always been the ultimate goal of my research, which is why I chose the "poster" as one of the most effective means of communication. I like its potential for disseminating a message and the extreme democracy of the form, which remains inextricably linked to people's daily lives.
Who were your mentors? Were there any key figures in your career?
I have always felt very strongly the influence of the art of the 20th century and of the artistic avant-gardes that for me have been, and still are, an inexhaustible source of inspiration. From Picasso’s Cubism to the Futurism of Depero and Balla, from Malevich’s Suprematism to the Fauvism of Matisse and Derain, I have always been passionate about the concept of overcoming reality, evident in these movements and in the artists who launched them. They were the starting point of my research.
Later, I fell in love with billboard artists such as Cassandre, Savignac, Puppo, or cartoonists such as Sempé and Tofano, but also with more contemporary artists such as Haring and Basquiat.
Are there artists to whom you feel a particular debt and who still inspire you?
If I have to identify a key figure who has inspired me and who continues to do so every time I look at his work, it is undoubtedly Picasso, one of the few artists who had a huge amount of work and all of the highest quality and who worked in all the styles of the 20th century with a very personal and profound approach. Whatever work I look at, I can always find some kind of inspiration from it.
When an artist manages to be an inspiration to other artists, I believe they have succeeded in their mission.
How do you structure your work?
The work of an illustrator has the merit of being very varied, so it always brings you different challenges, at least in terms of communication. I can at least say that I never get bored. The main steps, however, are almost always the same: first I collect ideas and cues that suit the customer's needs, then sketching and drawing (the part I prefer because it is when the world of ideas touches the world of drawing) and a final phase, after the customer's approval and corrections on the sketch, which is when I move to the final one in colour. This process is most usually carried out digitally to facilitate corrections and meet the customer's needs faster, but if it is a personal job and I have more time available, it is done analogically with watercolours and acrylics.
Are there any repeating routines?
No, apart from the workflow mentioned above, I try not to have too many routines, no particular rituals or habits, to avoid monotony in a job that shouldn't be boring. The only habit is perhaps to always go round with a notebook and a few pencils in your backpack.
How do you approach your work for the Municipal Theatre?
For the work with the Municipal Theatre, the procedure is usually very simple and direct, which helps the work a lot because then it remains fresh and spontaneous and not the result of too many alterations. After receiving all the story summaries of the operas, enriched with a list of keywords related to the various dramas, I begin to put down very simple ideas with the main characters of all the works. I look for references in the work itself or in posters that were made in the past, to better understand its history and not to repeat works already made in the past.
Every now and then I listen to some arias from the work to understand its atmosphere, but it is not a habit.
So I submit a black and white sketch to the theatre and then, after approval, I move on to colouring and the digital creation of the final work.
Many works really change on the path from the black and white draft version to the coloured digital one. Personally, my approach is very graphic and compositional, aiming to get a balance of forms that fit together to create a strong structure, but I believe that colour can change atmosphere and meanings if used well. For this reason, in the colouring phase I try different tones in a raw way in order to find the right colour contrasts that help highlight the characters.
The poster with the porticoes embracing the two towers in a spiral was very popular with everyone in the city. Can you tell us how it came about?
This illustration was created with the intention of celebrating Bologna’s eternal relationship with music.
The protagonist is the orchestra and all its members, from the instrumentalists to the choir, from whence the soundtrack rises, as in a symphony, or the porticoes of San Luca in a spiral that accompanies the eye upwards, transforming into music and then leaving the scene after protecting the two symbolic towers of Bologna. I liked the use of the spiral because it suggests, in addition to the movement of the porticoes, also ascent, echo, progression – elements closely related to sound and music. And I wanted to build the structure of the poster on that.
Riccardo Guasco shared some other images that we gladly attach to the interview.
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