Olimpia Zagnoli – Cuore di Panna

OPENING MAY 25TH, 6 – 10PM
Music By Virgil Normal, Shirley Kurata and and DJ Pubes.
RSVP AT RSVP@HVW8.COM

661 N. Spaulding Ave, LA 90036
EXHIBITION RUNS MAY 25th – JULY 1st

Presented by adidas Originals

#adidasLosAngeles

About the Exhibit

Through a series of evocative still lifes, light installations and videos, the artist recalls her childhood memories lived in the era between the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s in a sunny Italian season, dazed from images from TV advertisements of ice cream and sodas. Italy was still unaware of the approaching dark years of Berlusconism, in which American magnetism, shaking booties and the cult of money would sabotage the cultural landscape that had characterized the country during the 70s. The artist remembers afternoons spent sitting on plastic chairs outside ice cream parlors, with Heather Parisi playing on the radio and her mother smoking cigarettes while reading Hemingway, blue popsicles and glow-in-dark bracelets. In the years when Barbie Totally Hair was replacing Sophia Loren, summers seemed endless and dashing bicycle races with a Walkman on one’s ears were the best cures for loneliness.

About Olimpia Zagnoli

Olimpia Zagnoli was born in Reggio Emilia on the leap day in 1984. As a child she moved to Milan, where she currently lives and works. Olimpia studied illustration at the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Milan and graduated in 2007. The following year, after a period of living in New York, she began publishing her illustrations in Italian and international newspapers. Olimpia draws on Futurism, as much as on The Beatles. Her unique style comprises essential images, curvy shapes and saturated colors, inspired equally by art history and pop culture.

Throughout the years she has collaborated with The New York Times, Taschen, Vanity Fair, New Yorker and Rolling Stone, to name a few. She illustrated three children’s books: “The World Belongs To You”, “Mister Horizontal & Miss Vertical” and created her version of the masterpiece “The Wonderful Wizard of OZ”. Her bright and ironic images have acted as a framework for advertisement campaigns for Google, Sephora, Air France, Clinique and Miller. She has worked with leading fashion brands, among them Fendi, Prada, Hermes and Marella (Max Mara group).

Along with commissioned works, Olimpia Zagnoli conducts her personal artistic research where she builds a dialogue between illustration and different artistic media. In particular, she experimented with the relationship between drawing and tridimensionality, as well as video: she crafted a series of design objects, kinetic sculptures and directed music videos. Her work has been showcased in numerous group shows around Italy and Europe, and in solo shows: “Parco Zagnoli” at the Ninasagt gallery in Düsseldorf (2014), “Cinetica Zagnoli Elettrica” at 121+ in Milan (2015), “La Grande Estate” at Mutty gallery in Castiglione delle Stiviere (2016) and “How To Eat Spaghetti Like a Lady” at Antonio Colombo Gallery in Milan (2017).

HVW8 Gallery x adidas Originals

HVW8 Gallery and adidas Originals continue their long partnership in fostering emerging artists and creators from around the world. By supporting local artists and providing an inclusive environment for dialogue between artists from various cultures and mediums, the partnership provides an international platform for new and diverse artistic visions. Past artists include Kilo Kish, Brian Lotti, Inès Longevial, Gogy Esparza, Jey Perie, Lisa Leone, Mark Gonzales and Jean Jullien.