Umberto Chiodi: Drawing for Fashion and Beyond

Umberto Chiodi (b. 1981, Bologna; based in Milan) is an artist who uses drawing as his primary medium, creating surreal, noir-tinged works with obsessive, recognizable lines. He has collaborated with fashion brands Mila Schön and Daizy Shely. For Mila Schön's spring-summer 2018 collection, he designed two embroidered letters 'M' and 'S' inspired by medieval and 1950s motifs. For Daizy Shely's SS 2018 collection, he created all-over prints on fabric depicting small, symbolic figures that contrast life and death drives. Chiodi's practice includes drawing, collage, and assemblage, often incorporating found objects like opaline containers, surgical tools, and cycling autographs. His solo exhibition at Studio d'Arte Cannaviello in Milan features 30 small suspended assemblages titled 'Generatore di Vuoto' (Vacuum Generator), made from plastic spoons, cigarette filters, balloons, toothbrushes, shoelaces, hairpins, false eyelashes, straws, sunglass fragments, postcards, costume jewelry, fishing floats, needles, earphones, jacks, and electrical cables, combined with feathers, animal teeth, pearls, and wooden stems—all without glue. He also created five illustrations for Michel Tournier's 'Vendredi ou les limbes du Pacifique' in 2013, based on Tarot cards, and a series reinterpreting Sebastian Brant's 'Stultifera Navis' (Ship of Fools).