As the first artist to make his mark in Italy for the epic urban art festival FAME, Teo Pirisi (aka Moneyless) recently spent a week in the quaint town of Grottaglie, building up the local landscape with a series of his free floating geometric art installations in preparation for the outdoor art gathering that culminates in September. Examining the relationship between materials and design, the Italian artist transforms simple string into industrial architectural forms, often situating them in the rural countryside or derelict metropolitan structures. Recently showing his studio work at a group show, Linear Empires, in San Francisco, Teo proved with this batch of work why he’s most comfortable out in urban and natural environs. An impressive effort from an artist who views the streets as his canvas yet executes his vision in a manner that differs from the norm, a uniqueness that is to be respected.
As evidenced from last year’s FAME (covered), the curators also value uniqueness. By its very nature, the gathering itself is unique, an unconventional, organic, off the beaten path communal platform where artists make their pilgrimage to Grottaglie at different times throughout the year and leave their work to percolate until the fall, aging – hopefully undisturbed – like fine wine out in the wild. This officially kicks off the transformation of the sleepy country town, so antithetical to the condensed cityscapes the movement has been synonymous with, into the street art epicenter of the world. So stay tuned for more details and an official lineup in the weeks ahead.
Check out more Moneyless installations after the jump.
Images via FAME
