Massimo Orsi: The Artist Behind the OK Logo

Massimo Orsi (Alessandria, 1962) was interviewed by professors Alberto Dambruoso and Loredana Finicelli at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Frosinone as part of the I Martedì Critici series. Orsi debuted at Galleria Il Segno in Rome in 1991, having been an assistant to Bruno Ceccobelli. His early work was influenced by Arte Povera, but he later experimented with neon and figurative art. His most distinctive creation is the "OK" logo, formed by arranging the letters 'o' and 'k' into four ovals around a square containing a rhombus. This logo became a recurring motif critiquing consumerist logo culture in the 1990s. Orsi later expanded into neon writings and sculpture, including Caramiaironia exhibited at Museo Pecci in Prato (2000). After traveling to Pakistan and returning to Alessandria, he explored carpet art focusing on repetition and modularity, and returned to figurative painting using found objects. His recent series Dico and A volte le parole non bastano manipulate news images to comment on the information society and distorted identity.