Studio visit
Ale Puro
In Vigevano there is one of the most beautiful squares in Italy, Piazza Ducale, commissioned by Ludovico il Moro at the end of the 1400s, perfected over the centuries and becoming the natural hub of the economic, social and religious life of a city that has, over time, experienced periods of great prestige.
Just a few steps from there, in a typical Lombard courtyard, you’ll find a small trove of magic, the studio of the artist Ale Puro, where you have the chance to admire a wide variety of paintings, prints, drawings and colourful sculptures.
Ale Puro, in fact, is not his real name, but even though I know it, I’m not going to reveal his real name to you, since it’s rare for a pseudonym to adhere so perfectly to its owner’s personality.
From the very first encounter, he already promises exactly what he delivers; nomen omen, he is a figurative artist with an open, clear face, from which a kindness and purity shine through that make you instinctively love him.
And to think that at the origin of it all there is a box of Cuban cigars, the “puros”, and above all the word “PURO”; as a seventeen-year-old writer, he really liked it for the graphic potential of its letters (technically called lettering). But there it is: you can tell that the choice of name came down on him like destiny, and in his case, even if he wanted to, he could no longer shake it off.
Do you want to delve deeper into Ale Puro’s imaginative world?
In reality, his path was not at all straightforward: the son of an entrepreneur from Vigevano, he was steered toward the study of accounting – business accounting, essentially – so he could be brought straight into his parents’ business. It is only thanks to a true vocation that his creative ambitions slowly bud and blossom; at first as a writer (yes, he too has a few brightly painted walls without permission on his conscience), and later (after spending several years at Brera) giving rise to a unique, original style, immediately recognizable among a thousand.
It all stems from the fact that, for work, he travels to Mexico and India, where he encounters realities that, combined with his personal experience, give life to his creative world. And while in Mexico he encounters the South American tradition of murals, with vivid colours and flat-colour painting decorating the neighbourhoods of the cities, it is India that offers him his true inspiration. Finding himself in places little visited by Westerners, he immediately attracts the attention of the locals, in whom he notices, on the one hand, extreme poverty, and on the other an instinctive, inexplicable happiness, especially in the children.
The perception of this happiness triggers a revelation: the world, seen through children’s eyes, instantly becomes more beautiful! Feelings are sincere, everything takes on the guise of a wonderful novelty, every activity turns into play.
So let us not be deceived. His is NOT children’s painting! His is the quest for the child’s gaze in the eyes of adults!
It turns out that people like his style, they like it a lot, so much so that various publishing houses call on him to illustrate their books. Among these there is one, “Il Ninja innamorato” (“The Ninja in Love”), which even wins the Silent Book Contest 2023, an international competition dedicated to wordless books, awarded with the “Gianni De Conno Award”.
Over time, his publications have multiplied, just as his artistic output has grown: to the paintings he has added prints — in screen printing and linocut — and also sculptures made with 3D printers and then hand-painted. It goes without saying that many collectors have taken notice of him, welcoming his work very warmly.
Obviously, to make his work even more effective, technology is no stranger to him; for example, he has also created beautiful mural works in which, through an app, all the characters start moving.
In short, an unusual, original, up-to-date artist, whose work people love and who makes us smile. What more could you ask for?
