Ivan Tresoldi's Fingernail Intervention on Cattelan's L.O.V.E. in Milan

Ivan Tresoldi, a poet and street artist, painted the fingernail of Maurizio Cattelan's sculpture L.O.V.E. (also known as "Il Dito") in Piazza Affari, Milan, in fuchsia. The act, which occurred before March 8, 2021, was intended as a poetic and political statement challenging the art world and raising awareness about women's conditions. On March 8, hundreds of women participated in a performance by painting their middle fingernails. The intervention sparked debate: some called it vandalism, and the Lega party filed a complaint, citing Tresoldi's prior conviction for writing on walls and his announced plan to modify the statue of Indro Montanelli. Tresoldi distinguishes his work from cancel culture, framing it as "street poetry" and "aesthetic disobedience." He rejects the label "street artist," identifying instead with the first generation of European neomuralism from the early 2000s, which operated outside institutional contexts. Cattelan commented, "Vandalism when gratuitous is violence, but if I can give someone a finger to raise awareness about respect for women, I'm sorry there aren't four more." Tresoldi thanked Cattelan and noted that L.O.V.E. is the only public artwork that allows such a gesture. The interview also discusses Tresoldi's upcoming large-scale sculptural works for Arte Sella and AC Milan, and his past collaboration with OBR/Renzo Piano in 2017.