Michele Del Campo: A Conversation
The Baram House interviewed Michele Del Campo, a contemporary Italian artist, about his artistic trajectory, inspirations, and method.
Car Cemetery (2011)
Oil on linen, 180 x 200 cm
Sold
Welcome to The Baram House, Mr. Del Campo! Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am an artist, a nomad, a free spirit. I move around all the time, I have no fixed place, and my friends are scattered around the world, but thanks to social media we are in touch all the time and it feels good to be part of such global hive of creatives and like-minded people. I live with art all the time, there is no difference between my free time and my studio time, if I am not using my brushes, I am observing, thinking, and living the places and the experiences that later on will become part of my work. I paint real people, friends, family and acquaintances that I find interesting.
When was the first time you engaged with your craft and what memories do you have associated with it? What has been your artistic journey since then until now?
I always had a passion for drawing, sculpting, and making things by hand, even designing buildings and making models of them. Growing up in the countryside in Southern Italy, outside of the school hours, away from the other kids, I had a lot of spare time. Sometimes I would observe my mother painting with oils, but I was a rebel and I didn’t like her work, so painting was not a big passion yet. It was an art teacher in high school that convinced me to start painting with oils, and at first the results were quite good! She was a bit crazy and it was embarrassing when she asked the following teachers to please let me keep painting when her class was over, while the others were going to do science or language or literature. Perhaps she was a visionary…
My parents didn’t encourage me to take art as a serious path for the future, although they were proud of my creations. I also started to be good at cycling at 13 years old, and my abandonment of the sporting career, at 20 years old, meant that my father gave up on telling me what to do, and finally I got his permission to go to art university! Moving to North Italy first, and then to England, Scotland, Spain and eventually many other countries, opened up new worlds and initiated me to a more international career which saved me from depending on a local economy (Italy has never been good in the last years, and when Spain entered in a deep recession too, moving to the UK was the right choice, only until the Brexit started. From then onwards, Spain, Latin America and the US became vital markets for me).
We’re interested in your technical process. How do you create a typical painting, from conception to final sale?
My paintings are born from my experiences with places and people. I look around a lot, notice details, listen to people’s stories, take notes, and I mix all those things with my experience or imagination. I then may ask those same people to pose for me, or I may find somebody else from my circle of friends, I tell them how to pose and what to do. Sometimes I have in mind a scene with several people in it, and I find separate people to pose for it, then I take my own photos and put everything together like in a collage, changing the background, the pose of the hand, or some of the colors. Eventually I paint using those photos collaged together as reference.
Usually my paintings are sold in international art galleries, but those that did not sell remain available for my clients in my studio. Usually the best choice of paintings is during my shows, that’s why I always invite my clients to buy in my art galleries, but it’s also true that some paintings that didn’t sell in a particular gallery can still be a great choice for some clients, especially because the geographical differences can determine the taste of clients, and consequently the probability of the sales. I don’t let myself be influenced by that geographical factor though, I just tell my own world and stories in my work, and I am very lucky because almost all of my paintings get sold eventually, in my galleries or in my studio.
Morning Drink (2019)
Oil on linen, 100 x 120 cm
Sold
Best Friends (2020)
Oil on linen, 150 x 180 cm
Available from Galería Ansorena, Madrid
Much of your work seems to focus on the narratives of youth and young adults. What is so compelling about these subjects?
It’s the world that I frequent. It’s also a fascinating world, that period when one experiences trial and error, and is not sure about their path towards the future. In their 40s, people are usually already committed to a routine, they have taken their path, have bigger commitments, they might already have a family and have settled down in a city. Because of my work, my style of life might be closer to the people in their 20s, although I tend to go out more with people in their 30s, for the affinity of mentality. I change city or country frequently, I have no routine, I have complete freedom, I paint if and when I want, if I don’t, I do something else, always aiming at enriching my creativity and expanding my horizons. Every painting that I do speaks about me a little, and the free and doubtful youth is still what gets closer to my way of being.
Let’s talk about materials!
Regarding the support, I definitely prefer the linen canvas with a quite smooth grain. I used to also enjoy painting on very smooth MDF boards, but now I paint too big for those, and they are not practical either for someone who travels and exhibits abroad so much. With canvases, I can roll them up in a tube and go paint in another country, then take the finished works back with me. Or I can ship them easily overseas for exhibitions where they will be re-stretched.
About solvents, in the first wash I use mineral spirit, then pure color or mixed with half mineral spirit and half Liquin. Sometimes I use quick-drying painting medium instead, that’s more oily and can prevent some dark colors from getting muddy, you know when they dry out and grey, losing their original tone… For the brushes, I love a Spanish brand called Escoda, but I have a huge collection from other brands. As I travel, I also go and buy the best local brands around.
The Apple Tree (2015)
Oil on linen, 122 x 122 cm
Sold
The Pool (2019)
Oil on linen, 120 x 180 cm
Available from Galería Ansorena, Madrid
You grew up in Italy and have since gone to school and lived in the U.K. and Spain. How has living in these different environments affected your breadth of work?
I have experienced all of these places and tried to pick up the best from each of them. In Italy, the contemporary painting in the traditional style is quite poor, but there is a lot of great old masters in the museums, so that has been so enriching. In the U.K. there is Bacon, Freud, and some very traditional societies that value working from life as the only path—I disagree with that, but I took the love of sketching from life from studying and living there.
In Spain they have the school of Velazquez, Sorolla, and Antonio López, and perhaps the best hyperrealist painters in the world. I learned from them the taste for the “ugly,” the raw reality and for the expressive brushwork. In the U.S. they have Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth, and the very best in contemporary painting from the whole world. When I am there I learn how to let go of the tradition and the conventions that we European have—it is quite liberating and refreshing. All of the other places have left a different mark on me, and being exposed to diversity, finding what’s peculiar in each place and putting everything together in a painting, without caring if some elements or characters of the paintings are from Lima, Miami, London, Milan, or Madrid, is what makes my work more “special.”
Social media have revolutionized the way artists connect with their potential clients. Many artists are now forgoing traditional gallery representation for direct artist-to-client sales. We’re curious to hear about what has been the case for you.
Galleries, to me, are still the best way to showcase and sell art. Back in Italy, in my early 20s, I could not sell even one painting (people thought that I priced my paintings too high, when they were actually very cheap). Since I founded my first gallery in Madrid, I saw my prices go up quickly, people getting to know me and wanting to buy my work, which are now at unimaginable prices in comparison with my early dreams. I do sell my work directly to people but usually not my latest ones, those are destined to my gallery shows, because I owe my success to galleries. Of course, when they start asking for more than 50 percent of sales or they don’t promote the artist enough, I start considering taking on commissions straight from the clients since there is more money to be made that way, but then I keep working with the galleries that treat me right. It’s all about balance.
The Father (2017)
Oil on linen, 150 x 180 cm
Sold
The Fall Waiter (2015)
Oil on linen, 65 x 85 cm
Sold
All Desires Are Cursed (2019)
Oil on linen, 90 x 130 cm
Sold
Pursuing a career as an artist can be an incredibly challenging path. What is your best advice for young artists just starting out in the business?
Don’t remain with a doubt, go for it! A creative mind can always find a way to succeed, even if it needs to change paths because the art world is difficult. Being unhappy because of not choosing what one loves is difficult to accept at a late age, while failing because one followed a dream is bittersweet and can be overcome more easily. My parents didn’t want me to study art, that is the only thing that I need to add to strengthen the message.
Michele Del Campo is an Italian contemporary artist currently based in Madrid, Spain. He has exhibited in Milan, London, Madrid, Lima, San Francisco, and elsewhere. You can follow him on his website (www.micheledelcampo.com) and Instagram (@micheledelcampo).