Giuseppe Ferlito

Giuseppe Ferlito started to paint in 2010 in Los Angeles while he was writing the first draft of the script of the movie “88”. Between making one film and another, he has some breaks, and often these periods are frustrating because he is unable to give vent his creativity. “I started to paint as a remedy to this kind of frustration, and to this day I believe that painting for me is therapeutic because it allows me to discharge all the emotions that I am feeling onto the painting, to face my fears and to confront myself and my insecurities”. Ferlito paints on different surfaces: canvas, cardboard, plywood and walls. Many of his works are nowadays untraceable as they were done on non-transportable surfaces such as walls in some of his friend’s houses, tables, shutters and many other surfaces. He finds that his biggest fulfilment is in carrying out the work and not in possessing it. “I don’t use a precise technique. When I direct a movie I mainly try to recreate emotions in various ways, but there I have a film crew and actors to guide. In painting somehow it’s easier because I only have to direct my creativity using colours as a vehicle”. As in the cinema, he believes that it is not important to respect rules which are made in advance, but only to ensure that the choice of not following them does not compromise the final result, which, both in painting and in directing is that of transmitting emotions. “According to me an artwork, with all its expressivism, doesn’t derive from a set of rules and a frame of mind. I believe instead that submitting and being faithful to rules and rationality will make you end up tarnishing your work”. He exhibited for the first time his artworks in 2013 in Miami, taking advantage of a prestigious showcase such as ART BASEL. “I feel lucky, because I am aware that for many, BASEL is a goal and I had the opportunity to show my artwork there, my being in colour, next to great artists”. Later, he exhibited in Mexico on two different occasions, first during the famous MACO fair and then during the ceremony of Global Gift of Eva Longoria, as well as in London, New York and Los Angeles, where for the first time he exhibited bags painted like canvases. “People closest to me, urged me for several years to show my works, but I didn’t feel ready, not because I was insecure, but because I am discreet, there’s so much about me in every artwork that I paint, that I felt like I was disclosing too much, and I am a discreet person even if it doesn’t seem so because my job puts me in the limelight”. According to Freud the artistic inspiration originates directly from the subconscious and that is why surrealists wrote about their dreams and their moment of inspiration in diaries. Since his childhood. Ferlito has impulsively followed this instinct, driven by the fear of losing something that originates in his most unconscious imagination, in his dreams, he was afraid of wasting something precious, to which his creative side gave life. “That is the reason why when I paint it’s like I am doing a therapeutic session, it helps me dispel the difficulties that I am living in that moment. This is a feature that I can’t experience in cinema”. His artworks have been appreciated from the start, and they have been purchased both by collectors and movie stars. “It is a strange feeling to send your artwork to the opposite side of the world especially when you are sending it to actors who are cinema icons, who have made me fall in love with this job and who, today take pleasure from an emotion that one of my artwork communicates”. In painting he identifies himself with powerful images, loaded with emotional strength, sometimes risky, which make him obey the feelings of the moment and make him paint in such a way as to express his real emotions. “When I’m thinking about how to shoot a scene, the most standard framing initially comes to my mind,more glorified and less risky for sure, but when I look into the film camera, where you have the real perception of what you are about to shoot, it is in that precise moment that I compare myself to my artistic conscience and I ask myself if I want to transform my script like that. I don’t accept cowardice in art I prefer to be misunderstood or misconceived as long as I don’t have to make compromises with my creativity which wouldn’t forgive me”.

Who can paint the most famous side of a character, if not a famous director?

Giuseppe Ferlito: director, screenwriter and painter from Padua pays homage to the Pope with one of his personal works 
The charity auction “pintando por los jóvenes” organized by the international charity “Scholas Occurrentes” supported by Pope Francis since he was still Archbishop of Buenos Aires took place on 10 May in Rome at the Hassler hotel. Giuseppe Ferlito, the only Italian to represent our country
Scholas Occurrentes aims at the affirmation of culture, of the encounter for peace through education and through the involvement of all social actors.
Combining school, popular sports through solidarity was the line of action proposed by Pope Bergoglio with the conviction that the figures loved by the people could educate millions of children with their own example and that sport, together with art, can be. among the more effective tools to encourage the values of every young mind.
Scholas’ mission is to use technology to design a global classroom, through the integration of art and sport, to re-establish the educational pact and ensure that an integrated and peaceful society becomes a reality in every part of the world.
International artists from all over the world were invited to participate in the auction, who wanted to support such an ambitious, as much as the necessary project, by donating some of their works.
Well-known personalities such as the Brazilian Romero Britto, the Frenchman Mr Brainwash, the Spaniards Jordi Mollà, Domingo Zapata and Alejandro Sanz, just to name a few, had the honour of being part of it, as well as all the other artists invited to the event.
The only representative of our country was the Paduan director, screenwriter and painter Giuseppe Ferlito.
Ferlito, whose works have been appreciated by international artists for years (such as Mickey Rourke and many others), donated a work depicting Dali.
The work belongs to a series called “The Warriors” in which famous people such as Muhammad Ali, Ayrton Senna, Madonna, Kate Moss, Jim Morrison, Pope Bergoglio and others, are portrayed with feathered hair typical of Indian warriors.
“I decided to portray these public figures under the guise of real warriors because each of them, in their field, was able to distinguish themselves for strength, courage and determination”, explains Ferlito.
The work, put up for auction, exceeded 30,000 euros. “I am really happy that one of my paintings has been able to contribute to helping children in difficulty. For all of us artists, it was a privilege to be able to use our creativity for such a noble cause ”.
Pope Francis himself wanted to meet the artists in the Vatican to thank them personally for donating their works for charity. On that occasion, the Paduan artist paid homage to the Holy Father with the painting from the series “the warriors” depicting the Holy Pontiff, which is now part of his private collection