From punk rock to paint: Artist talks new exhibit at Coral Springs Museum of Art
“The first things I used to make were just absolute crap.” — Tommaso “Tommy” Fattovich, about his early paintings.
Born and raised in Milan, Italy, before moving to Florida in his teens, Tommaso Fattovich has a background in punk rock and a master’s degree in international business.
He didn’t start painting until his mid-30s, but is now a featured artist in galleries across the globe, including the Coral Springs Museum of Art’s new dual exhibition exploring abstract art, identity and what it means to belong.
“I learned along the way. I think that’s the best way to learn with anything. Just do it. See along the way what happens,” he told the Coral Springs News.
In his mid-30s, Fattovich said he was finding it more and more difficult to get crews together for his passion projects: short films. He turned his untapped creative energy toward a new endeavor — painting.
“It was a medium that allowed me to be immediate,” Fattovich said. “Here it is. Feel whatever you want, and also let the audience interpret what I do. You know, I’m not telling you what that means.”
He sold his first piece in 2012 while working for a traveling jewelrymaker. He credits his late gallerist, BlinkGroup Gallery founder Elizabeth “Lola” Reyes, for his success.
The two met a few years into Fattovich’s career as a painter, and she took him under her wing.
Reyes died unexpectedly in June, leaving Fattovich and many others in the South Florida art community in shock.
“We had so many plans and so many things together, and she just died, just like that,” he said.
“She took a chance on me, and we were doing business together for seven, eight years, even more. I owe her so much.”
As Fattovich’s style developed, he found throughlines in his work, centering bright colors and childlike play.
His daughter, who is 2 years old, also inspires him.
“Because of her, like, something changes in my brain. And I really just had more fun with it,” Fattovich said.
“I used to take myself so seriously.”
Fattovich’s “Casa Dolce Casa” and Lisa MacNamara’s “Underneath the Surface of Sight” are now available for viewing at the Coral Springs Museum of Art.
Fattovich’s pieces are also able to be viewed on his website, Fattovichworks.com.
Here’s more of our conversation with Fattovich. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What inspires your work?
A: My intention is that, if this is not fun, it’s like, it’s not worth doing. I love absurdity. To me, absurdity makes me laugh, and it’s one of the things that makes life worth living. It’s makes it interesting.
Q: How do you balance the fun of your process with the need to sell paintings? Is that something you think about?
A: It’s fine to say that the experience of getting myself together and producing something is so satisfying, and if it never goes anywhere, yes it kind of sucks, but there’s nothing I can do about it. You really are in the hands of buyers.
You really have to tell yourself, be patient. Don’t produce too much also, because of storage needs and all that stuff. And along the way, things do happen. I get so insecure, nervous, and then suddenly, like, boom, boom, boom. It’s like, when it’s when one starts selling, then there’s like, three more, and then another two. So it’s sporadic.
I think success for me is already this, if after the museum show, nothing else happens, I win. But I don’t want to think like that. I hope there’s another, like, 20 solid years being able to keep doing this.
Galleries are closing, there’s a lot of uncertainty with collectors. Being part of the museum show, it’s great, because to be validated like that, it means a lot to me.
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Q: When you make abstract art, what do you mean by that? What do you want people to take away from it?
A: With abstract, really the meaning it’s interpreted by the audience. Most people that interpret stuff, it’s because they’re projecting their own be able to talk to it. It’s like that with everything.
Even though there’s all this abstract nonsense, you really got to make sense of it, and you have to have the right composition, you know, negative space and all that.
Q: I hear a lot of opinions from people about what role technology and AI are going to play in creatives’ processes. What’s your take?
A: What we do as artists, as human beings — there’s only a finite amount that we make, and that’s what brings value.
AI is infinite. There’s no value, and it’s slop, forever. But the life of an artist — that’s creating with his hands, to get inspiration.
What we’re producing, it’s valuable because it’s fitie, just like life. That’s why it’s valuable, because it’s finite.
“Casa Dolce Casa” is available for viewing at the Coral Springs Museum of Art Main Gallery until Feb. 21.
