Pietro Sedda's Two-Decade Retrospective at Pinacoteca Contini in Oristano

A retrospective exhibition at the Pinacoteca Contini in Oristano showcases approximately eighty works by Pietro Sedda, spanning from 1998 to 2018. The Sardinian-born artist (Cagliari, 1969) studied at the Istituto d'Arte in Oristano and later at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan, graduating in 1995. Since 1999, he has worked as a tattoo artist, opening studios in Oristano, London (2004), Urbino (2006), and Milan (2006), where he runs the internationally renowned The Saint Mariner. In 2000, he created the alter ego Pietrolio, a masked sadomasochistic figure dressed in black on a black bicycle, who performed at other artists' openings, bringing situational-relational-programmed art with emotional and disturbing impact. The exhibition includes large drawings on dusting paper in a graffiti style from the 1980s, ambiguous paintings referencing Caravaggio to Bad Painting, and works on industrial and pop supports like decorated plastic tablecloths. Themes of borderline society, social and sexual revolutions, love, and death recur. Also on view are polaroids, photographs, and videos such as "Aftereight" (2005) and "Blueblood" (2006/2007). Sedda recently collaborated with BMW, customizing five cars by "tattooing" them. His works have been published by Logos edizioni of Modena, most recently "Neroblue" (limited edition of 500 copies), presented at the Mondial du Tatouage in Paris in 2017.