Graziano Cecchini (born 23 October 1953) is an Italian artist and activist best known for his works of "vandalism" art.
Works
Trevi Fountain Dye
On 19 October 2007, Cecchini poured a can of dye into the Trevi Fountain in Rome, causing the fountain to spout red water for several hours. He also left behind several leaflets urging the public to "embrace colour". Rome police identified Cecchini as the vandal from CCTV footage and placed him under investigation for allegedly damaging a historical or artistic building.
Cecchini later took responsibility for the vandalism on the TV show Le Iene: "There is the Red Carpet Red, red Valentino and red Ferrari. Now there is also the red Trevi." He continued: "I do not accept that it is still said that it was an act of vandalism; I prepared everything in detail and our artistic provocation did not cause damage to the monument. First, it was not aniline that was used, as all newspapers have written. That stuff is carcinogenic and would not have had an immediate effect. Simple and harmless, environmentally friendly tempera was used. Of course the use of red is not random; I'm an artist and I know the subtle power of each color, I wanted to get that red and not another, not leaving the percentage of tint to chance. To ensure there would be no damage, the mixture was first tested in a pool, although it was understood that the real vandal the alderman for cultural heritage: the fountain is so filthy and caked with limestone it would be impossible stain the marble." The act was done as a protest against the Rome Film Festival organization.
After the incident, technicians shut off the fountain and were able to restore a clear flow. Neither the fountain nor its statues were permanently damaged.
Spanish Steps
Cecchini's other notable performance occurred on 16 January 2008, when he rolled 500,000 colored balls down the Spanish Steps. Each ball "represented a lie told by a politician," Cecchini told the Italian press.
The stunt was intended to draw attention to the struggles of the Karen people. "I am leaving for Burma, these balls will help the Karen people," he said as he walked down the steps with balls bouncing around him.
Cecchini paid about twenty-five thousand euro for the balls and ten trucks to transport them. Italian police arrested him at the scene.
Biographical data
Graziano Cecchini was born in Rome on October 22, 1953. In 2007, he dyed Fontana di Trevi in red, kicking off a series of transgressive art performances that have been around the world.
At the Trevi Fountain follows Trinity de 'Monti, "from RossoTrevi to the QuadriColour", in this performance 500.000 colored balls roll from the steps of Piazza di Spagna, combining the main manifestos of Futurism of the third millennium.
He becomes the testimonial of De Chirico Foundation, for which he created two works that in 2010, together with the works of Maestro Giorgio De Chirico, were exhibited in a “traveling exhibition” in Miami, New York and Los Angeles.
In August 2008, he makes a photographic complaint reportage in the Burmese jungle, following the Karen Liberation Army.
In 2008 he was called by Vittorio Sgarbi in Salemi, together with Oliviero Toscani, as “Alderman of Nothing.” A Salemi makes a short film, "Poggioreale, the country that does not exist" and organizes various exhibitions and publishes reports on Karen about a book of photo-journalism “Kaw too lei”.
In October 2010 in Florence, he creates, on the occasion of the Festival of Creativity, The Rock, a site of 400 tons of marble, mobilizing the main quarries of the Apuan Alps. He collaborates with various companies marble industry, the Province and the Confederation of Massa and Carrara.
From 2010 to 2011 he was involved in redesign a factory in Pisa, during that period he worked at his art, paintings and sculptures.
From December 2011 to February 2012 his exhibition was presented in Margutta at the Margutta RistorArte; curator of the exhibition is Francesca Barbi Marinetti, nephew of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. The exhibition is entitled "Per Grazia-no ricevuta. Le Ma-donne”.
He is the creator and producer of the project of artistic design of Haute Couture "X-Art".