Zino, stage name of Luigi Franchi, was born in Teramo in 1973. During the 90’s he studied art history at the University of Bologna, graduating with a thesis on Francis Bacon and started attending the contemporary art world collaborating with some artists from the “ex-pastificio Cerere” in Rome.
At the end of the millennium, he contributed to the realization of some installations for international artistic events (Fuori uso, Trasalimenti) before embarking on a parallel path in the restoration of works of art, graduating in 2003 at Palazzo Spinelli in Florence.For over 15 years he has been active in the recovery and preservation of the Italian artistic heritage, specializing in the restoration of paintings and frescoes from the Renaissance to the Baroque.Since 2008 he has been teaching History of Art in high schools.In 2014 he collaborated with the Academy of Fine Arts in L’Aquila teaching the course “History of restoration”.Since 2017 he has been living and working in Rimini where he teaches, cuts, glues, writes, plays and takes part in the cultural life of the city.Zino has exhibited at various public institutions, galleries and art fairs. (Camec La Spezia, Pino Pascali Polignano a Mare Foundation, Carrara Plastic Arts Center, Liquid art Capri, Gallery 1opera Naples, Gallery B4 Bologna, Setup art fair Bologna, Galleria Zamagni art Rimini).
Involved and interested in contemporary society, from consumerism to globalization, from pop culture to youth fashions, his journey has been characterized by the use of different materials mostly belonging to non-artistic environments such as Lego bricks, PVC balls, 3D printing.It is the most recent research centred on the image distortion intended as mass-media icon in which a meaning transposition is established, allowing objects and people to accumulate new and different significance when filtered through the net or the television, essentially through an act of image “pixelation”. The images are accurately reproduced on paper but part of their surface is modified through the use of Lego bricks, in a sort of computerised enlargement, causing an interference in the object comprehension which do not prevent its correct reading, but simply marks an invisible line in balance between realisation and complete alteration. The constant search for new formal solutions to talk about today’s society and the curiosity to experiment with different languages to test their expressive potential are the basis of his work.
