16 Oct Street art of Piskv and Kobe Mural in Rome
Born in Apulia and based in Roma, Piskv is architect, visual artist and passionate about street art. Graduated in Architecture in Rome in 2017, recently, he realized the Kobe Mural at Palatellene in Rome. I asked him a couple of questions about his career, works and the source of ispiration.
1) Francesco Persichella aka Piskv, when and how have you become passionate about street art?
I have slowly become passionate about street art, thanks to a range of connections. I have always been passionate about art and a self-taught person. Studying architecture in Rome I hooked up with artists of the urban scene, linked to the street art.
Generally, the architecture as city planning engages with the street art world.
2) You have realized works on several topics and you paid homage to sports and entertainment personalities. What works have a special meaning for you?
I am not very attached to my works, each piece of art lives a moment and a contest. Thus I am not attached to an individual piece of art. However, there are works, that I appreciate more than others. For example, the portrait of Giorgio Morandi at Tor Sapienza 2, one of the first geometrical works that I have realized and other pop-artworks as Alberto Sordi or Bombolo’ portraits.
3) What artist or personality has inspired you?
An artist that I have always observed is Jean-Michel Basquiat, essential for my background. He was a contemporary artist of the 70s and 80s, besides painting, he was able to compose.
I find ispiration from the art around me and I like observing other tecniques and artists. Another one, for example is Tadaomi Shibuya, a japonese street-artist. His style, schematic and geometrical, is similar to mine. I observe and owe him part of my artistic research.
4) How have you come up with the idea of Kobe mural at Palatellene in Rome?
I have always been passionate about sport and I played basketball. I wanted to pay tribute to Kobe after the helicopter crash in January and realize it in Rome, where I live. I started looking for a wall to make the art-work. Thanks to a friend of mine, who works as a journalist, I got the contact of Palatellene, the training center of Virtus. I personally funded the mural. After asking for the authorization, Virtus accepted the idea. I started in March, the lockdown stopped me and I started over in September.
I wanted to pay tribute to Kobe, because I have always followed him as a player until the retirement. His motivation to get better, the life in Italy, the affinity with the Italian culture, made me fall in love with him. It was a pleasure to realize and donate it to Rome, so the city pay homage to Kobe with a mural. There are about 300 works worlwide for him and each day new ones come in. The mural has become popular in the US.
On Kobe’s birthday, Bleacher Report launched a video with a selection of murals for him. My art work and Jorit’s one in Naples are in the video. Besides that, Kobe Mural page on Instagram, that collects Kobe’s works worldwide, reach out to me to post my contents.
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