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Simone Nicola Filippo (b.1996, Italy), is a Swiss-based visual artist and painter. He pursued an education in visual arts with a bachelor’s degree at HEAD (Geneva), and a Master’s degree at ECAL (Lausanne). Simone’s work is informed by online communities, being an exploration of para-social dynamics and imagery akin to fan-art. The characters he appropriates within his paintings are extracted from several media he actively consumes, which are linked to stark feelings of nostalgia and anemoia.
Simone often collaborates with artists César Axel and Tudor Ciurescu, for projects under the umbrella of “General Aesthetics”; their latest group show is visible on ArtViewer. Simone was equally awarded the Städtekonferenz Kultur Grant in 2021 and subsequently spend a six-month residency in Cairo. He currently lives and works between Neuchâtel and Lausanne.
Hi Simone, it’s a pleasure to sit down with you! First question that I always ask. How does a regular day look like for you in Neuchâtel / Lausanne?
Hi Rubén, first of all thank you for inviting me to this Overstandard interview.
Neuchâtel is an extremely quiet place; awful to work in! Whenever I need to paint, I jump on the first train to Lausanne and enjoy my hour-long commute. I finished quite a few books this way!
Alright, let’s go back in time a little bit. Can you tell me about what it was like growing up in Italy, what kind of kid were you? What did you enjoy doing stuff like that?
Indeed, I am Italian. I grew up in Sicily, so my childhood was marked by hot summer afternoons spent outdoors. When I wasn’t sent to play in the communal garden or to Sunday school, I played pretend with the neighbor’s kids. During my formative years I was shy, debilitatingly so.
I was quite destructive too. I used to take toys apart and cut-up my Pokémon magazines. I used to glue the pictures at random inside empty notebooks, much like a Panini stickers album.
When you were around 15, you moved to Switzerland. Why was that?
I remember the day my dad told me we’d move to Switzerland (we’re a family of five) because he’d lose his job otherwise. To sweeten the deal, he offered me a Nintendo 3DS on which I still play to this day. Anyway, I was dead scared to change country and language; at my worst I became an online hermit. It got worse before it got better, but in the long run it has been the best thing to ever happen to me. A blessing in disguise.
Can you elaborate a little bit on what you mean by a blessing in disguise? And why it was the best thing that ever happened to you?
Had I stayed in Sicily, I would have not been able to pursue art the way I do now. The job market would have been much, much more dire. And I do believe I was stagnating up to my early teens. Just a feeling…
Can you talk to me a little bit about how life has been like, since graduating from art school. Is it everything you had imagined?
I managed to snatch an international artist residency in Cairo right after my diploma, which delayed the inevitable baptism of fire. I feel the people I met during said residency helped me out greatly to integrate the local scene. Besides, people in my hometown already knew my face since I squatted at almost every art opening I could. The thing I miss the most is definitely criticizing my work.
That’s dope, how long did you stay in Cairo, and what was that experience like?
The residency lasted six months! All of which I spent in the city, except for a small trip to the Suez Canal. It started real hot and ended freezing cold; definitely tempered my soul. I appreciated sharing the experience with Alexandra and Marketa (two artists and now good friends from the residency). I learnt a little Arabic and I only got scammed once in the streets, Alhamdulillah!
Being an artist, does you ever feel like you’re inside an art bubble sometimes? If so, can you talk to me about that experience, and also what you do, in order to get out of the bubble?
Absolutely! The Swiss art bubble is quite provincial. This country provides an extremely prolific environment for art; grants, residencies and such opportunities are everywhere. Nevertheless, it does suffer from a “bubbly” mentality. I was surprised to find artists who built a career based on the school they frequented. Lausanne and Geneva are two big offenders; much less international than the German-speaking part of the country. I will sound bitter (and that’s because I am) but the art scene is way too comfortable. The only way I know to effectively burst the bubble is to win a residency program abroad -which I did.
That’s really interesting. So… and please correct me if I’m wrong. The way the grant system is set up in Lausanne in Geneva, is that if you go to a good school, you get a lot of grants after you graduate. Is that what you mean?
Self-taught people do get grants, just nowhere near as easily as someone who entered the local scene through an art school. Gotta keep the social club exclusive.
I’m curious… Living in the age of social media, what happens when the audience of your work is mostly online?
Good question! I opened my Instagram page when I realized how easy it is for people to forget about you nowadays. My idea was to keep in touch with former classmates, and now I have several thousand pairs of eyes fixated on my works. It’s flattering! Not everyone took it kindly though; I used to get passive aggressive remarks about it, as if I shouldn’t try to branch out.
Anyway, most social media platforms are overly-moderated, criticism gets mistaken for hate and is promptly shut down. A shame!
With that in mind. What’s your take on art and the art-world in general?
It’s a fairly elitist place, isn’t it? We tend to exclude non-artists from the discourse and as a result there are a lot of misunderstandings. There should be an equilibrium between democratizing quality works of art and gatekeeping the community. And don’t get me started on so-called International Art English; a language barrier that should be abandoned.
For me, art, is to be able to continue being “cringe”. It’s creating to my heart’s content but keeping a façade of intellectual charisma.
When did you start taking being an artist seriously?
When I realized I couldn’t keep a straight job and that I’m too soft for crime!
In all seriousness, I feel it truly began in the middle of my bachelor’s degree. I saw a show by Mathis Gasser and realized I could depict whatever I felt was important for me. It helped that my classmates enjoyed seeing me become increasingly more osé with my practice.
I know that you apply both brushes and airbrush to your paintings. How did you get introduced to the airbrush? And what makes it one of your preferred tools?
I picked up an airbrush gun for the first time in order to paint a Warhammer model; nothing major, a T’au I never completed. However, I was captivated by the bursts of “light” I could apply to my canvases. It clicked with the history of the tool itself: first used as an analog photo-retouching tool, it became the go-to brush in Photoshop. This shift nowadays influences how the tool is used by contemporary painters, basically striving for an “digital” feel.
My first airbrush pieces were charmingly wobbly. Nowadays I paint entire pieces without touching a physical brush, nevertheless I’m not about to forego them anytime soon.
Let’s talk about your paintings now. You have a very distinctive and recognizable distorted / cartoony style. My question is: When did you start to develop it, and what is it about that look that appeals to you?
I’ve been more aware of it for two or three years now. My “cartoony” vibes are directly linked to the source material. I like staying faithful to the aura of a certain character while keeping the fan-artist mindset.
Besides the videogame character portraits, who are the various protagonists in your works, and what’s the inspiration behind them?
Movies heroines, manga waifus, or inside jokes too; the subjects I choose are often the result of pure chance and a huge dose of anemoia. The right Google search result paired with the perfect archival picture I happened to save for later inspiration. I have several long-distance friends whom I talk to while working on my computer. Those hours of chit-chat are extremely prolific in terms of new imagery filling my download folder. I’m often inspired by drawings published on DeviantArt; their wonkiness and sheer charisma are irresistible. The fetishistic aspects of some pieces are also paramount!
By putting your own twist and look on the portraits. What are you hoping to convey?
I’d like to instate a para-social dynamic. I’m satisfied if the subject is somewhat recognizable and the viewer can see an ounce of the attraction I feel for them. I’m not saying that I am willing to marry every single piece I painted, but I might have been at some point! The blurry texture I often employ is how I let the mind fill in the missing detail. I like when some pieces of the puzzle are missing.
How have video games influenced your work, and what are some of your favorite video games?
I burnt so many hours on gaming it’s not even funny. I began painting video games as a way to exorcise the -rightful- feeling of wasting my younger years in front of a screen instead of improving my social skills. I guess it’s affection and resentment.
I also feel that games such as Halo have shaped me in a more… intimate way.
Can you walk me through your creative process. From beginning, to end result?
Sure! One of my latest pieces is a medium-format featuring a horse. I had the blank canvas ready, so I knew I’d paint something in those proportions.
I stumbled upon the picture of this gorgeous horse which spurted the same energy as Jana Euler’s phallic sharks. I obviously needed a knight for said horse, and fortunately, it took me only a couple of days to find the right character: a Hatsune Miku black latex Gimp Suit! Soon enough I prepped a simple B/W photoshop to project to get the proportions right (freehanders stay mad). In another couple of days, I had the final tones laid out. By this time, I went through the five stages of grief and once I’m over that, I can accept the piece to be ready. If it wasn’t fun, I wouldn’t do it.
Can you also tell me about your approach to color?
Color is hard! I’m usually okay with painting using a limited palette. Grants me all the control I crave and I can more easily trick the viewer into feeling a certain way I front of my pieces. Monochromes are my favorite art pieces to look at too!
Ok Simone, so I know that besides painting you’re also making 3D sculptures. When did you get introduced to that? And what makes it one of your preferred ways of expressing yourself?
I need to thank my good friend César for that. We went through the Master’s degree together and collaborating with him has always been a rewarding experience. We began to make concrete pieces to mock brutalism and the canons of art school sculptures. Had a blast clogging the school toilets with gravel!
I also 3D printed a “Kigurumi” mask using a free pattern available on Thinghiverse. You know those cosplay masks with the proportions of an anime character? Very pleased how that piece turned out and that now it’s in someone’s home in Paris (much love Mélanie!).
How do you deal with creative blocks?
Tell me about it… I mentioned I have to commute in order to paint. That is also a conscious choice. If I don’t have any ideas or if the painting process is not going as it should, I will spend time elsewhere. There are always jobs to apply to and open calls to answer anyway!
How would you describe a perfect day?
On a painting day, I wake up to take the 9:30am train. I grab a cup of coffee and down a small calzone with it (keeps me going well into the afternoon). I walk the 15 minutes to reach the studio, mens sana in corpore sano, right? I like to clean the studio a bit every morning, only then will I start painting; usually until 5 or 6pm. Once I’m back home I dine, work out and wash the paint away. After that I tend to loiter in the group chat for a long while. It’s quite rewarding!
Alright Simone. I always ask these two questions at the end of an interview. The first is. What’s your favorite movie(s) and why?
I’m not a movie buff but I have a soft spot for Evangelion. It would be much easier to tell you what I don’t like!
The second is. What song(s) are you currently listening to the most right now?
No, I don’t listen to music because it sucks. Especially during painting. However, I do pay close attention to so-called ASMR audios over on YouTube. Fuels my mind with para-social thoughts!
Thank you for the questions!
