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Guglielmo Botter is an Italian/US architect, artist and writer, born in 1966 in Treviso, Italy. The recent economic crisis in Italy made him to rethink his life and in 2012 he decided to come back to the United States where his mother lived and worked as an artist in the late ‘50s, in Pittsburgh, PA. His first sketches of the “Steel City” were well welcomed and published on the cover of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. He exhibited for the first time in the U.S in 2013 and later he started to expand his interest to other cities: Richmond and Norfolk VA, Frederick MD, Cincinnati and Cleveland OH and recently Jasper and Columbus IN, where he was hosted as “artist in residence” in November 2017. In 2018 he exhibited in Lancaster and Harrisburg, PA and in Norfolk, VA.
He still live mainly in Treviso, a nice medieval city near Venice, but he spends few months every year in the U.S. continuing his experience in the “land of opportunity”. In his sketches he combines the Italian aesthetic background with a family history rooted in the U.S. to envision the American urban landscape. He likes the contrast between modern and historic buildings, and his simple sign in black and white helps to blend very well details of the contemporary era. He didn’t attend any school of art since he breathed art: his father was a frescos restorer and Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice and his family, for some generations, was involved in the art field. His father Memi was his mentor and he suggested Guglielmo to improve his study on classics, latin, greek and philosophy, leaving him free to express his art. The artist says he was inspired most by classic artists who saw in the drawing a valid study tool of the reality. His thought goes to Venetian Masters as de Barbari, Canaletto and Piranesi... Their images, circulating around the world responding to the request of travelers, have contributed significantly to the image of the city itself, making it possible to say that the Venice of the eighteenth century has no secrets for us, so meticulously documented herself. His goal would be to have the same opportunity, to visit more american cities and, depicting them, to make them known in a different way through the traditional view of an italian architect. The artist mainly works in collaborations with the public: municipalities, museums, schools of art, art associations in the US and in Germany where his art is particularly well welcomed and appreciated. Recently selected through a juried process (International call for artists), for 2019 he is already engaged with an invitation exhibition at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Art Center in Bloomington, IN and he is also working on an exhibition project in Washington, DC. He is naturally willing to accept invitations to make drawings of ever new American cities, starting in 2021. At what point in your life did you know that you wanted to become an artist? Did the realization emerge slowly? Growing up in a family of artists, it was natural for me to absorb the positive atmosphere that art emanates in all its expressions. I found myself the ink pen in my hands at just 5 years and from there started my career as an artist. In my youth I won almost all the competitions dedicated to young artists and at the age of 11 I opened my first personal exhibition. At 13 I was the winner of the XXII Stamp Day, a national competition organized by the Ministry of Telecommunications and my design of Treviso, my hometown in Italy, has become a stamp: in this competition participated 350,000 students of compulsory schools from all over Italy. My father decided it was appropriate for me to find my own way and he advised me to study the humanities further: I then graduated from high school. I chose to graduate as an architect by following the family's artistic footsteps but in a different branch: my father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all famous restorers of frescoes and my father Memi held the chair of restoration at the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice for 20 years. For a long time I abandoned my "artist's tunic" to follow the profession of architect but the economic crisis that hit Europe and in particular Italy so hard forced me to rethink my future. I had to close the studio and, on the advice of my mother, who was a popular painter in Pittsburgh, PA, and who died in 2010, a few months after my father, in 2012 I crossed the Atlantic to retrace the footsteps of the maternal family that was immigrated to the United States in 1892. Thanks to my ancestors who were miners and then entrepreneurs in the Pittsburgh area, I can now return to the US as a citizen and I am proud of it. I immediately started drawing again and a few months later I was invited to exhibit in one of the most prestigious galleries in the city. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette published my drawings of the city on the cover and from there my artistic career started up again. Now I work and exhibit my works in many states of the east coast: PA, VA, MD, DC, OH, KY, IN, WI. How did you evolve your style and favorite mediums? I must say that I never thought I could call myself an artist ... when I was young I looked at my future and at a profession tied to art but, drawing for my pure pleasure and to understand in particular constructions and architecture, I didn't consider myself a "painter". With the beating suffered because of the economic crisis, I picked up the ink pen considering it a means of freedom, to escape from daily difficulties. I rediscovered the pleasure of drawing and serenity in isolating myself from a world in great trouble. Crossing the ocean, I immediately received great appreciation for my art and I transformed my passion into work. Over time I have certainly refined my technique but I don't feel the need to experiment with new techniques. I think my china drawings have a double value: artistic, I hope, but above all documentary of how cities are evolving in this part of the millennium... All I need is a ink pen, a pencil, an eraser and a sketchbook ... I travel a lot thanks to this opportunity that my new job offers me and I'm living a very intense period of my life, always in contact with new people and new communities and I have the privilege of spending more time with my wife and our two daughters; while still living in Italy, we spend three to four months a year in the United States, according to my artistic commitments What are your time management techniques? Do you have regular working hours...or favorite times to work? Having become a full-time artist in recent years, I devote most of my time to drawing. However, as in any profession, organization and programming are fundamental aspects and should never be neglected. New opportunities are offered only if you look for them, so part of the time is devoted to relationships. Traveling a lot, opportunities are also discovered casually, so you are always in turmoil. Never let your guard down ... I work mainly by drawing on the site but many times I am not allowed for various reasons, and then I have to make up for it with photos and quick sketches that I then use once back in my studio. I organize three to five exhibitions a year, mainly in the US and Germany, countries that are giving me particular satisfaction: I am usually invited to exhibit at public facilities, museums, art associations, art schools and City Halls. For each new city that I add to my portfolio, I make 16 to 30 sketches in the 17 x 14 inches format, so at the end of each year I find myself with about 80/100 new works done. To work, I await the right inspiration and this can come at any time of the day .. Do you work on more than one piece at a time, or primarily just on one? I work on one design at a time What would you say is your biggest influence -- that which keeps you working, regardless of all else, your most steadfast motivation? As mentioned above, having the art replaced my profession as an architect in the last few years, the firmest motivation that keeps me on this artistic path is the satisfaction I get by making my ink drawings. The awards obtained both at a very young age and in recent years, especially in the US, have led me to continue on this path in search of ever new successes and satisfactions. Not least the human side, always meeting new people interested in your work, the friendship and mutual respect that come from it in every place visited. America is big and remains the land of opportunity. I hope that my experience will also serve as a stimulus for my daughters to never lose hope for a better future Does trying something new and not knowing the rules -- the boundary pushing -- create anxiety or excitement in you? (Or both?) Here is perhaps the weakness of my being an artist ... I hadn't considered doing the full-time artist, for me it had to remain a passion, a moment of personal isolation but life gave me this surprise and now I share my art with more and more people on two continents. However, I have now passed the age of 50, I feel I must continue in this work of documentation of American cities that occupies me full time. Trying new paths now could be a gamble, maybe I don't have the strength to try new techniques and styles ... My mother, an excellent painter who quietly ranged from the figurative to the abstract, has always tried to advise me: I listened to the suggestion to come to USA, I have not yet received the invitation to experiment ... Do you have any projects or events forthcoming? I have just closed an exhibition at the Town Hall of Altötting, in Bavaria, Germany and on 2 June 2019 I am invited to exhibit my drawings of Freiburg, on the occasion of the Italian Republic Day at the Italian Consulate in Freiburg, Germany. From the first of August to 30 September 2019 I will exhibit, by invitation, at the Lancaster Visitor Center's Art gallery, Lancaster, PA. Recently I was selected, through an international call for artists, to exhibit at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Art Center in Bloomington, IN (August 2020) I am currently working on a major exhibition of drawings dedicated to the capitals Rome and Washington, DC which will take place in November 2020 right in Washington. I hope to have a chance to start sketching the Big Apple soon! Contact the artist: http://www.guglielmobotter.com/Guglielmo_Botter_artist/Home.html [email protected] |
Pittsburgh, PA: View from atop the Benedum-Trees Building
Medium: Pen & Ink Year of Completion: 2018 Dimension: 17 x 14 inches Price: NFS 
Harrisburg, PA: South 2nd Street
Medium: Pen & Ink Year of Completion: 2018 Dimension: 17 x 14 inches Price: 900.00 USD 
Freiburg, Germany: Martinstor
Medium: Pen & Ink Year of Completion: 2019 Dimension: 14 x 17 inches Price: 900.00 USD 
Washington, DC: The Old Post Office Building
Medium: Pen & Ink Year of Completion: 2018 Dimension: 14 x 17 inches Price: 1,000.00 USD |