For me, creativity is a biological duty. I am very curious, and for decades I have been busy, and I am busy, with fulfilling my curiosities through painting, drawings, collages, writing and actions… I have drawn, drawn… written everything that has crossed my mind. Art is light and
nourishment…Love is the highest form of awareness…”(Matthew Guarnaccia)
“Saints and Brigands” – Images and thoughts from a consciousness inspired by love – is the latest project conceived, researched and designed by the artist Matthew Guarnaccia before his passing and dedicated to a series of artists, philosophers, musicians, poets, writers, revolutionaries, gurus, saints, thinkers, movements, outsiders, tricksters and composers who questioned the state of things and acted accordingly, from Vivienne Westwood to Hypatia, from David Bowie to Bob Dylan, from Picasso to the Pre-Raphaelites, From Saint Francis to Buddhajust to name a few. Just like Guarnaccia, who has always testified – intensely, through his art and his life – the state of things, with actions, kindness, rigor and empathy.
The precious thing that collects his thoughts and creativity is volume, published by ShaKe Edizioni to be released on October 18, 2024which includes more than one hundred portraits with an unmistakable and elegant style, accompanied by equally many thoughts from the protagonists and cards dedicated to them, as well as numerous pages that retrace the extraordinary artistic life of Guarnaccia and his path.
“Santi e Briganti” will be premiered on Thursday October 17, 2024 at 6:00 PM from Antonio Colombo Contemporary Artin via Solferino 44 in Milan, a gallery that has always been present with numerous projects by Matteo Guarnaccia, which will open the exhibition dedicated to the over one hundred original portraits contained in the book, exhibited until November 9, 2024 in the “Magic Bus” space inside the gallery.
From musicians like John Cage, Jim Morrison or Elvis Presley to philosophers like Apuleius, Hypatia or David Thoreau; from artists like Vincent Van Gogh,
Marcel Duchamp or the Futurists, to icons like Vivienne Westwood, up to revolutionaries, gurus, poets, writers, saints, thinkers and outsiders. The characters represented come from different worlds, but they are all similar for having questioned the state of things, like Matteo Guarnaccia who testified it through his art and his life.
In its 256 fully illustrated pages with 108 large format tables, the volume tells them through unpublished portraits rich in symbolic meanings and characterized by the unique style of Matteo Guarnaccia. Each portrait is also accompanied by a “thought”, a quote from the protagonisttogether with a text written by Matteo Guarnaccia and David Bernardini.
Matteo Guarnaccia, who passed away in 2022, was a key figure in contemporary visionary culture, a protagonist of the European countercultural scene in the 1970s. A free, refined artist with diverse talents – from drawing to painting, from writing to teaching and 
from art history to music – he dedicated his life and his art to the beauty of diversity, of human beings and of the universe, always testifying to the importance of seeking the origin of things. A great innovator and “scholar”, cultured, sincere and positive, who always had a sharp look at the world, drawing a wonderful and “possible world”, elaborated with irony, truth and beauty.
Defined by critics as: “… A contemporary Bosch… A Renaissance man of lush tribal worlds…”, but also a fantastic storyteller.
Matteo Guarnaccia (Milan 1954-2022), artist and costume historian, was a key figure in contemporary visionary culture. Already in the seventies he was a protagonist of the European countercultural scene, with his psychedelic magazine, “Insekten Sekte”. Active in the art field, with international exhibitions and installations: from the Milan Triennale to the Hall of Flowers in San Francisco, from the Venice Biennale to the Pecci Museum in Prato, from the Mazzotta and Mudima Foundation in Milan to the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation in Turin.
He has exhibited his works in Italy, Holland, United States, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland etc. His works appear on
important international magazines and catalogues, including Zoom (France), Underground Culture from all Parts of the World (Japan): he is one of the few Italian artists present in the prestigious Art of Modern Rock by Grushkin & King in 2004.
He has worked in fashion with various projects, collaborating with Vivienne Westwood (for whom he designed a Capsule Collection), Biba (London), Corso Como 10, Malo, Stephan Marais (Paris). In the field of design he has worked alongside Bruno Munari, Atelier Mendini, Italo Rota & Partners, Alessandro Guerriero, Piero Fornasetti.
He has written and illustrated over sixty “essays” dedicated to the avant-gardes and subcultures of the twentieth century, published by various publishers, including Rizzoli, Phaidon, Hoepli, Mondadori, 24 ORE Cultura, as well as collaborating with various magazines. With ShaKe he has published Rebels with style (2009), Psychedelic (2010), Italian Underground (2011), Guernica Blues: A Counter-History of the Arts from 1945 to Today (2012), Shamans (2016), All you need is love (2017), in addition to having beautifully illustrated Terence McKenna’s classic travelogue, Real hallucinations (new ed. 2022).
In its 256 fully illustrated pages with 108 large format tables, the volume tells them through unpublished portraits rich in symbolic meanings and characterized by the unique style of Matteo Guarnaccia. Each portrait is also accompanied by a “thought”, a quote from the protagonisttogether with a text written by Matteo Guarnaccia and David Bernardini.
Matteo Guarnaccia, who passed away in 2022, was a key figure in contemporary visionary culture, a protagonist of the European countercultural scene in the 1970s. A free, refined artist with diverse talents – from drawing to painting, from writing to teaching and from art history to music – he dedicated his life and his art to the beauty of diversity, of human beings and of the universe, always testifying to the importance of seeking the origin of things. A great innovator and “scholar”, cultured, sincere and positive, who always had a keen eye on the world, designing a wonderful and “possible world”, elaborated with irony, truth and beauty.
Carlo Franza
Tag: “Saints and Brigands”, Antonio Colombo Contemporary Art, Apuleius, David Thoreau, Elvis Presley, Hypatia, Jim Morrison, John Cage, Marcel Duchamp, Matteo Guarnaccia, Matteo Guarnaccia (Milan 1954-2022), ShaKe Edizioni, Vincent Van Gogh