Aesthetic sensibility, innovation and modern, eclectic design: all this goes into the evocative, surprising works of Riccardo Fornoni, born in 1994, from Mantua, whose activity ranges from interior design to art direction, productions of animation for brands, magazines and designers to the creation of works of art.
With a degree in architecture from the Milan Polytechnic, he began his career by founding Creamatelier, an international studio of art and design with clients like Uniqlo, Christie’s London, Sightunseen and Bjarke Ingels Group: in artistic terms, the latest collaboration is with Lumas Gallery, the website that sells art photography of museum quality, on view starting in April. Since 2023 he is a member of the jury of the DNA Paris Design Awards, an annual competition based in Paris.
Fornoni’s practice combines reality with a digital dimension in a synthesis of art and design where every work can be positioned at the edges of the real and surreal world, achieving a unified aesthetic.
“Real and virtual are two dimensions in constant dialogue that interact and influence each other,” Fornoni explains. “The digital can be used as a representation of reality under the form of photorealistic images or videos, but it can also be “overlaid” on the physical world through augmented reality (AR), visualizing a digital element in real time inside a room. Part of my work consists in digital representation, through the use of 3D programs, of the products of brands, or spaces in unusual, remote and sometimes surreal settings.”
The artist’s latest collaboration has been with the London-based textile brand Kirkby Design, where the creative process covers the entire range. Starting from comprehension of the brand’s identity, to the production of sketches to define an initial setting, and then shifting to the design of furnishings like chairs and sofas to cover with Kirkby fabrics, reaching the point of 3D set design, interiors and animation to bring out the most characteristic aspects.
“Real and virtual are two dimensions in constant dialogue that influence each other by interacting,” explains Fornoni. “The digital can be used as a representation of reality in the form of photorealistic images or videos, but it can also be “superimposed” on the physical world through augmented reality (AR), displaying a digital element in your room in real time. Part of my job is to digitally represent, through the use of 3D programs, brand products or spaces in unusual, remote and sometimes surreal environments”. In the art world Fornoni’s creations have been published and shown in international events like Maison&Objet in Paris and Tokyo, the CAFA Art Museum of Beijing, and in June 2023 at the Dynamic Art Museum in Milan.
“In my creative process I am influenced mostly by the masters of the past, although every path leads me to different reference points, so that I am actually influenced by multiple factors, depending on the type of work I am doing,” Fornoni continues. “At the moment I am concentrating on set design and digital settings, animation and more artistic projects. I am also approaching the design of furnishings for physical production, whose process of making, however, is normally more complex because you have to interface with a more restrictive reality than in the digital world, which is free of physical laws.”
And what is the value – or what will be the value – of artificial intelligence for this artist? “It will be increasingly involved in our creative processes, offering exceptional support,” he believes. “It will definitely offer advantages in terms of production timing, because it can analyze enormous quantities of data in a few seconds and develop multiple solutions. Nevertheless, I think each of us will have to choose whether to use it or not. For the moment, I try to use it as little as possible: I believe that it ruins the poetry of my creative process to some extent.”
