108 (born 1978) is an Italian artist in the field of

street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graff ...

and

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

from

Alessandria Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin. Alessandria ...

. 108 has moved from working in traditional

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

art to painting large and mysterious figures that invade public spaces. He was the first writer to use numbers instead of letters for his name. He started to work when he was a child on the streets of

, and used different names. His work has appeared on the streets of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. His first works known by people are enigmatic “blob”-like yellow shapes. It is his firm intention to make visual chaos. His new works are

labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...

s, dead trees, non figurative 3D objects and installations, but especially black and gloomy shapes, becoming one of the biggest and influential artists in graffiti abstractism. In the last years, he took part in a lot of international exhibitions: Nusign 2.4 in

, Urban Edge Show in

, Segundo and Tercer Asalto in

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

and, in 2007 he was invited to join the project called Walls inside the

Biennale di Venezia The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

with JR and Daim. During March 2008 he was invited to join Nomadaz (a show curated by Pablo Aravena) in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

with Eltono,

Dem DEM was the ISO 4217 currency code for the Deutsche Mark, former currency of Germany Computing * Digital elevation model, a digital representation of ground-surface topography or terrain ** .dem, a common extension for USGS DEM files * Discret ...

, Microbo and other artists to represent Europe in the U.S.A. 108's doomy black abstractions are engaging and challenging in equal measure. Whether it be within the confines of a small room in the abandoned monastery, where the large triangular constructions are most effective and have the effect of warping and playing with the room's dimensions as the viewer attempts to back away and comprehend the pieces, or as a surreal floating void on a wall beside a busy road.

Principal exhibits

* 2014 - ''Genius Loci'', Sale d'Arte City of Alessandria, Italy. * 2013 - ''La Tour'', Curated by Galerie Itinerrance, Paris, France. * 2012 - ''Seventeen Dens'', solo show, Ego Gallery, Lugano, Switzerland. * 2011 - ''Fame festival 2010'', Grottaglie, Taranto, Italy. * 2011 - ''La forma dell'inverno'', solo show, curated by Pietro Rivasi, Spazio Avia Pervia, Modena, Italy. * 2010 - ''Agli antipodi della realtà'', Solo show, curated by Guillaume Von Holden, Zelle Arte Contemporanea, Palermo, Italy. * 2010 - ''Sweet Sheets (Moves to Modica)'', Palazzo della Cultura di Modica, Modica, Italy. * 2010 - ''Fame festival 2010'', Grottaglie, Taranto, Italy. * 2009 - ''L'eterno ascoltare delle pietre'', solo show, Studiodieci - Vercelli, Italy. * 2008 - ''Nomadaz'', Los Angeles, USA. * 2007 - ''ASA'', curated by Cesare Bignotti, Palazzetto Santa Maria, Genoa, Italy. * 2007 - ''Walls -

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

'', Venezia. * 2006 - ''Segundo Asalto'', Zaragoza, Spain. * 2006 - ''EVES'', curated by Cesare Bignotti, Loggia Piazza Banchi, Genoa, Italy. * 2005 - ''Urban Edge Show'', Milan. * 2004 - ''Nusign 2.4'', Paris. * 2003 - ''Street art show'', Leeds.

References

External links

Official 108 site

108 Gallery on Ekosystem.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:108 1978 births Living people 20th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 21st-century Italian painters Italian graffiti artists People from Alessandria 20th-century Italian male artists 21st-century Italian male artists