Paolo Amico

Paolo Amico was born in San Cataldo (Sicily) in 1987. He lives and works between Milan and Massarosa (Tuscany). Amico studied at the Art Institute in San Cataldo and then at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Palermo, where he focused on painting and restoration.

Amico’s chosen medium is ballpoint pen: a medium that leaves no room for second thoughts, hesitation, or changes. Using a technique of meticulous hatching, his works lack marks of lines, and the visual impact is more similar to paintings or prints than it is to drawings.

Working from photographs he has taken, Amico starts his drawings by sketching the scene in pencil onto which he lays down a brown undertone in ink for a base. Because of the limited number of colors available in the palette of ballpoint pens, the artist builds his tones in layers “mixing” the colors by layering the diverse inks to obtain the desired result.

His images are often set at night and illuminated by artificial light; he considers darkness a neutral field through which color becomes more significant. In doing this, Amico’s colors, illuminations from streetlights, windows or mobile phones, more meaningfully shape the landscapes which they portray.

Amico has won significant awards including the Meneghetti International Art Prize and Premio Arte, as well as twice being a finalist for the Premio Cairo. He has collaborated with several brands including Hermès, Piaggio and Olivetti. With exhibitions spanning nearly two decades, his works are included in many international collections.