Elusive art, without labels.
An artistic explorer and interpreter of our time, Iabo World undoubtedly has the notorious attitude and mixes, creates and transforms, in a continuous process of deconstruction and recomposition, contaminating and allowing himself to be contaminated. Among his works that most struck us, there are obviously the parodies of some well-known advertising campaigns: images imprinted in our minds in such a profound and perhaps intrusive way, that we find it hard not to jump off the chair!The result is nothing short of provocative, hilarious, enlightening… so Notorious!!!Street artist? Painter? Don’t try to label it, it might be irreverent with you too!
Hello Iabo! We know that you don't like labels and that the simple definition of artist is too narrow for you. So... who is Iabo?
Iabo is a documentarist of reality, he is a great observer, a communicator, a desecrator, a thief, a ‘robber’ of the lifeblood and creativity that the reality around him offers, a skilful visual trickster. In short, one, none and a hundred thousand Iabo.
In your bio you call yourself 'elusive': can you explain why?
My matrix is the illegal world of writing, so the concept of escaping is inherent in me. And inevitably I applied and apply this attitude to my entire career, which then developed into the art world. I remain elusive because my creativity is elusive, my mind travels and works at the speed of a click.
Who influenced you the most?
My need to communicate, to do and say, to manifest my existence and that of my concepts, ideas and visions to the world: this need of mine has undoubtedly been my main inspiration, always. One name, or rather two, I want to mention: Ninì Sgambati and Franz Iandolo.
What is creativity for you?
A requirement.
In your works you often touch on political themes in an irreverent way, do you think history should be reinterpreted in an ironic way?
Absolutely, I see everything in a desecrating way, even current reality, not just past history. Desecrating obviously does not mean ridiculing and depriving the themes or characters I represent of their specific weight in reality or history. Desecrating for me means bringing characters down from an imaginary historical altar and making them approachable and understandable to everyone.
You could be called the artist of a thousand faces, but what is your real face?
There is no such thing as a false or true face, as I said before, Iabo is one none and one hundred thousand. Iabo is Iabo!
If you had to make a self-portrait, what would you name it?
“Untitled”
Art and social media: do you think one can, nowadays, use these channels to make art?
I don’t think it, I do it. I experience on my ‘social skin’ certain mechanisms that are complex, always trying to understand how art is usable in this virtual reality. Although I have to say that thanks to this work of basically applying the bombing I used to do on the street as a graffiti writer on the net, and the effort I put into it, I am achieving great results, which could not be achieved outside of social.
Do you know anyone particularly Notorious?
Mimmo Rocco, my father.
He was recently in Milan among the stands of the Affordable Art Fair. You will soon find it on show in Amsterdam at the Art 3035 Gallery, or published in the Large Catalogue ‘Atlas. Art in Naples from the 1960s to the present day”. Find out more at store.iaboworld.com.
