ROBERTO GROSSO

"ART IS MY COMPASS THROUGH THE CHAOS."

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Roberto Grosso is an interdisciplinary artist who combines art, music and augmented reality. He was born on the 13th of May 1977 in Biella. A nice little town in the north of Italy where he quickly fell in love with music, which became his first real artistic experience. He played and toured with his band Gene.Razionale for several years with some of the best bands in Italy until 2005, when he moved to London.

At the beginning of his career, in 2009, he was discovered by Kanye West, who featured Grosso’s work on his blog, Kanyeuniversity, naming him his favorite artist of the month.    He spent his entire career combining his passion for music, art, and technology into one and his unique artistic method and use of augmented reality was finally recognized. In 2018, he became the thesis subject of fine art student, Giulia Briganti, who drew parallels between his music inspired method and that of the great Wassily Kandinsky and John Cage. This thesis is published and archived in the University of Urbino, home of Raffaello.  

"Creating art gives me a better understanding of humanity."

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Grosso’s works of art have a way of displaying life’s intricacies.  Admiring his art is a reminder that every day the sun sets, and every day it rises.  In this same manner, whatever has a beginning also has an end.  And in this infinite space of opportunities, we are guided to move on, to begin anew, to look into a new day with a fresh perspective.  Grosso offers that inspiration to understand that what has been, may not be and what has not been, certainly is! 

Q. What role does the artist have in society?  

A. An artist shares his vision with the world. I do this through the lens of music, by choosing the

right song for the feeling I want to express.

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Q. As a child, what did you wish to become when you grew up?
A. An artist. The power to create something unique that could speak to me and to others was fascinating.

Q. Do you remember the first art you made? What was it and how old were you?
A. When I was 10, I made a little drawing of the mountains I could see from my balcony, nothing great,

but I felt there was potential, and even if there wasn't, that made me happy.

Q. How and when did you first become seriously interested in art?
A. When I moved to London, I decided not to pursue music anymore as my band just split up.

I became a designer for companies such as Yahoo!, MySpace and WPP. While working for Yahoo! in 2008, I felt the need to express myself and started combining photography and design to create something new. These first rudimental experiments eventually led me to create my first show and motivated me to go further.

Q. Tell us about your particular style and how you came to it?  
A. My unique artistic process is a combination of my passions for art, music, and technology.

Music is the key. When I find a song that really inspires me, I commission pictures to my models and photographers.  Painting is the next step, using my palette knife to create single brushstrokes that are then digitized. Once the collage of all these brushstrokes becomes a portrait, it is then printed on brushed metal. When the artwork becomes physical, I create an augmented reality that anyone can experience through the Artivive app. The augmented reality shows all the stages of creation – you can see the picture, the brushstrokes and listen to the music that inspired me in the first place.

Q. What does your art aim to express?  

A. Joy, sadness, fun, love. Each artwork is a visualization of the feeling I get from the song.

Q. What personality trait has gotten you in the most trouble?
A. I like to help people out, but sometimes I have trouble saying no. Don’t use that against me!

Q. What have you had to sacrifice for this career?
A. An art career is a tough one. There are no boundaries, no rules, and the creative process isn’t always a straight line.  I sacrifice most of my time to work on my art, often without knowing what the end result will be.

Q. Who are your biggest influences? Are you inspired by the work of your peers or anyone else in particular?
A. Salvador Dali, Radiohead, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Kamasi Washington.  I take inspiration from anyone who has a unique point of view to show.

Q. Is the artistic life lonely? What do you do to counteract it?
A. It can be a lonely journey, but I'm lucky that I have my wife, my friends, and my family to get through it.

Q. Apart from art, what do you love doing?
A. Playing my guitar. I love experimenting with new sounds and ideas. I love cooking a good meal for

my wife and my friends. Watching a good TV series, like Top Boy or Breaking Bad. 

Q. What is your philosophy in matters of art?
A. Art should give you an emotional response. It needs to be saying something.

Q. What does 'success' mean to you?
A. Success is doing what you love to the highest level and being recognized for it.

Q. What are the biggest things you've learned in life thus far?
A. Be kind, listen and do your part to make this tiny rock a better place for all of us, it's not difficult.

Q. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given, and by who? 

A. Work hard, don't waste your time and money. Be ambitious. This advice was given by my father,

who just recently passed away.

Q. What advice would you give to the next generation?

A. Believe in your dreams, experiment, and work hard to become the best in your field. 

Be happy. 

The rest will come.