Desolation Row (Via della Povertà)

Description

This painting is inspired by Via della Povertà, a song by Fabrizio De André that reinterprets Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited. The song transports its characters into a contemporary setting, revealing that, despite their madness and cruelty, they are not so different from us, each with their own fears and insecurities. De André demystifies these characters, showing that they are human, full of contradictions.

In the painting, I chose to depict some of the eccentric characters from the song: sailors in a beauty salon, a blind commissioner, a confident Cinderella, and many more. These characters, despite their absurdities, reflect the reality of everyday life and its contradictions.

In 2003, after injuring my knee, I decided to dedicate more time to painting. Until that moment, I had only painted landscapes, but with Via della Povertà, I felt the need to introduce “living beings” into my work. With a painful leg, I immersed myself in creating these characters, translating the vibrancy of the song into my artistic world. This painting is the result of that fusion between my personal experience and the art of Fabrizio De André.