Andrea Ravo Mattoni - (IT)

Andrea Mattoni was born in Varese, on April 7th 1981 into a family of artists: his father, Carlo was a behavioural-conceptual artist, his uncle Alberto an illustrator, famous for having created the character Lillibeth, and his grandfather, Giovanni Italo was a painter, who created the Liebig and Lavazza trading card series. As a child, Andrea was immersed in an extremely stimulating world and began drawing at a very young age.

In 1995, he embarked on his journey as a writer, using the pseudonym of Ravo. He continued this path until the early 2000s, before enrolling at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts. At this time, he partially abandoned the use of spray cans, and devoted himself to oil and acrylic paintings on canvas.

FROM WRITING TO THE ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS
In 2003, he created of and founded THE BAG ARTFACTORY in the Bovisa district of Milan with some friends. This space eventually became a real hub for artists. He later worked as an assistant for Manuela Gandini, a curator at Gigi Rigamonti’s Artandgallery in Milan.

He contemporaneously began to collaborate with various galleries as an artist. These experiences helped him become more involved in painting, as well as spray painting, transferring the skills he developed over years working on canvas directly onto the wall. “My idea of Street Art is a tribute to my origins, my land. A strong recognition of the great painting of the past and all that our visual culture is based on. I feel obliged to carry on this project with momentum. Mine is a message of reculturalisation, of hope and, above all, of beauty”. –Andrea Ravo Mattoni