LORENZO PETRANTONI IS NOT ALL BLACK AND WHITE

Lorenzo Petrantoni was born Genoa, Italy in 1970.  He graduated from graphic design school in Milan, he later worked as an art director for Young & Rubicam in France before finally moving back to Italy, where he lives and works today.

After creating numerous advertising campaigns for international companies, collaborated with world-renowned magazines and displayed his work in various exhibitions all around the globe, here’s are his thoughts on using black and white, materialism and professionalism.

AGENT2 are so enthralled by the monochrome but modern and creative style of Petrantoni that we just had to to hear what the man himself had to say about his work.

Would you tell us something about your earliest influences, how you came to an appreciation of design and how you moved into design as a profession?

I think that it is my passion for voyages, knowledge, contemporary arts, the influences and events of the 1800s that give me the drive to design.

How would you describe your work/style to first-time viewers?

My works are encyclopaedic collages of 19^th century dictionaries, put together following aesthetic rules, which spring from my love for graphics.

When did you start using black-and-white for your work and why?

All my images have always been black-and-white and I don’t really know why. Maybe I should ask a shrink!

How do you make the achromatic colours black and white interesting?

It depends on how you use black and white – if well used, they can be stronger than a rainbow.

Many see black-and-white as nostalgic. What’s your take on that?

It depends on the use of the graphics and their meanings. For me, black-and-white is timeless – my works, starting form others’ works made more than 100 years ago, are always timely, thanks to black-and-white.

Black-and-white is enjoying a revival. In your opinion, why is that?

For me, it doesn’t need any revival. As long as you love it, you don’t need to have public consensus since it is evergreen.

Black-and-white has been featured in every medium. In which one is it most powerful?

I think that print is the best medium – in the old books I study for my works, there are images that are really, extraordinary, and you could spend hours fixing them and discovering new details. Thus, black-and-white is perfect on a static medium. The encyclopaedia is my example.

Who epitomizes black-and-white?

For me, everyone who puts love into their own black-and-white epitomizes the black-and-white spirit.

Why did you choose illustration as your design medium?

I chose illustration as my design medium because of my deep and strong love for graphics. A lot of characters I use are completely unknown, but they’re still full of charm to me.

French dictionaries and encyclopaedias are your influences. How do you breathe new life into these ‘old’ items?

I love giving new life to images and characters forgotten and buried in dusty libraries. I think the past can be a great source of inspiration for modern works.

You try to fight materialism – how  does this translate into your work?

It works in the sense that my works transmit feelings and emotions, even if I don’t represent them. I want to make an impression, not with strong images, but with strong and powerful compositions.

You recently collaborated with Nike for its Chinese press campaign. Can you tell us a bit about that project?

The work was very intense and really passionate. The campaign won a lot of prizes and these were the gifts for working with a perfect, professional team. There are two subjects – for the first, the protagonist is fire, and for the second, iron. For both subjects the power comes from the interaction of [tennis-player] Sharapova’s full-colour pictures with my black-and-white work. Her body and my illustrations interact so well that you cannot say what is old and what is new, you can just feel the intensity of the image.

What are your future plans? Are you working on any particular projects right now?

I’m working on a book that will be published later this year. It comprises 80 pages of illustrations in which my adventures in the world of graphics are resumed.

lorenzopetrantoni.com

Words Vincent Bernier