Andrea Francolino on Cement Dust, Cracks, and the Vulnerability of Existence

In an interview at Frittelli Arte Contemporanea in Florence, artist Andrea Francolino (b. 1979) discusses his exhibition "Urban Papers" and his evolving practice. His large-scale work "From 12 Mar 2015 to 12 Mar 2016" occupies 21 linear meters of wall space, documenting cracks collected over a year from both urban and natural sites, each traced and logged via satellite. Francolino describes a shift from earlier works like "Spamming" and "Packaging"—which critiqued mass consumerism—toward a more dematerialized approach using cement dust and cracks. He exhibited at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery in London during Frieze 2016 with the show "From I to," pairing cement dust with organic soil and steel rods mimicking Sansevieria plants. There, his work caught the attention of Foster and Partners, leading to a commission for a New York project by developer Scott Resnik. Francolino emphasizes that cracks are not artificially created but harvested from asphalt, serving as metaphors for human vulnerability. He references his 2012 work "White Scaffold," shown at Arte Fiera Bologna with Testoni, which entered the Servais family collection in Brussels. He also participated in The Open Box in Milan, and his work was acquired by the Giorgio and Anna Fasol collection. The interview concludes with Francolino's critique of contemporary art's loss of poetry and his belief that art should be ambiguous and layered.