Street Art Milan: History of Milan with Graffiti

Last week I was walking back home when I noticed people staring at a wall of graffiti. As I continued to walk and stare at the graffiti, I was taken back because of it’s unique beauty. I immediately recognized that something had changed; the graffiti brought life to the street that was once ordinary. The graffiti had captured my full attention, even if I seemed to be ignoring everything else around me.

Street art always seems to grab your attention, especially the one like this that these men have created. It is an overall unique masterpiece. Studying this I recognized many important symbols and characters from Milan. I noticed one of the characters was Alessandro Manzoni which is when it all made sense to me. What these men have created was their interpretation of the “History of Milan“. We had the privilege to interview these men to share their point of view with you.

 

Basilica of San Lorenzo  – The Location

The wall chosen for the opera is property of the Basilica of San Lorenzo, one of the oldest churches in Milan. It’s located in a little street in the characteristic district of Basilicas Park which includes the Basilica of San Lorenzo with the peculiar Roman Columns of San Lorenzo and the Basilica of Sant’Eustorgio, between Navigli and Duomo. This is a very historical area, but during the night is one of the most well frequented place for the Movida Milanese.

Don Augusto Casolo – The Client

Don Augusto Casolo, parish of the Basilica of San Lorenzo, is the man who came up with the idea to use this wall for a good cause. As he said during an interview for Corriere Della Sera, his main goal was to block out gangs who would repeatedly ruin walls with vulgar graffiti that had absolutely no meaning. Because of this he decided to commit Jacopo Verdesca and the writer Kasy23 (Andrea Casillo), after seeing pictures of a street art contest they organized about 8 months ago. This competition called for building a team of writers and to decide what they would draw. The idea of Don Augusto Casolo was to represent the past, present and future of Milan. From this idea they started to think about how they could give their best interpretation of “Milan Street Hi-Story“.

The Team

The team was made of 11 brilliant artists (Acme 107, Encs, Gatto Nero, Gatto Max, Gep, Gianbattista Leoni, Kasy 23, Luca Zammarchi, Mr. Blob, Neve e 750ml) who collaborated in a three-days-work during the weekend of May 23-24-25. They started with a collective discussion about the main theme and how to organize the work. After organizing the work each writer created his own personal sketch and from there they started to create the real graffito.

First sketch made by Ale Gatti – Gattonero drawing the “war” between Visconti and Sforza for the ownership of Milan.

 

Moving through the Graffito

 

Madonna of the Writers (by Max Gatto) and the Soldier who represents the WWII (by Kasy23)

 

The Soldier with the fall of the black King (Kasy23) and Napoleone Bonaparte (by Leoni)

 

Giuseppe Verdi (by Arsen)

 

Alessandro Manzoni (by Cheone)

 

The symbolism behind the historical Families of Milan: Visconti and Sforza with the Snake and the Eagle. (by Ale Gatti – Gattonero)

 

Leonardo Da Vinci inventing the wooden spray for writers (by Mr. Blob) and Carlo Magno (by Encs)

 

Lord’s Prayer in Latin (by Gep)

 

The list of writers (by Gep)

 

Attila the Hun (by Acme107) and Sant’Ambrogio (by Neve)

 

Street Art and Graffiti

“For who does this for his living and make it as his profession, work under commission is absolutely normal” – said Jacopo Verdesca. Who thinks that graffiti is mainly attributable to vandals or young gangs that doodle walls during the night, is wrong and is not well informed about this contemporary art – suggested Max Gatto. During the past and the Renaissance the Church used to contact artists, sculptors or painters for adorning their properties, now things have changed.

Kasy23 said that they use to do a lot of committed works, but this time was special because the work was for a prestigious location like this, and that was very excited. They all really hope to have more opportunities like this in the future and to continue to use the words of Gattonero (Alessandro Gatti), people could now understand the difference between street art and vandalisms and appreciate their talent.

 

And that’s something that we hope as well! Good job guys!