Paolo Pedroni was born in Brescia in 1983.

Graduating from the European Institute of Design in 2005, despite working in the field of design, he never forgot his innate passion for painting and drawing, which has made him one of the leading Italian artists in the Pop Surrealism movement.

His early works of art were created on the streets, including spray graffiti and street art on the walls of the suburbs, while his canvas paintings are now exhibited and collected internationally. Pedroni's characters are childlike figures, surrounded by childhood objects, colorful and soft. His imagery ranges from the bittersweet narrative of a fable dedicated to Fragility, to the clear condemnation of consumerism that characterises our times and "makes us all victims," with a direct reference to issues related to social media.

In 2015 his art was the protagonist for the collection that the Korean brand Juun.J. presented at the Palais de Tokyo during Paris Fashion Week

For the FW 24-25 season Modem gave ''carte blanche'' to Paolo Pedroni for the Paris Modem's Map Covers
The work "Pink Fever" illustrated the cover of the Modem Map Men's Fashion Week in January 2024, the work "Floating" is for the Modem Map Women's Fashion Week in February 2024. Both works created in 2023 are oil on canvas.

We interviewed him to explore his world and to understand his art, his inspiration and the reasons behind his subjects.

- What do the digital world and social media represent for you?
PP: The digital world has always been a resource for me, when I discovered concept art and realised that almost everything was done through technology, I was so excited... Later, as I approached pop surrealism, I applied digital illustration techniques to my very first works, I still do sketches of paintings on the iPad. Social media is a different thing: at the beginning I saw the potential, the sharing of one's work and the opportunity to make oneself known to a wider audience were the good things, now they seem to me like containers full of empty content. I see that what 'works' on social media no longer has anything to do with sharing, it just looks like ostentation to me.

How do Takashi Murakami and Asian aesthetics influence your art?
PP: Murakami, Kusama, Yoshitomo but also Miyazaky and others certainly have an impact on what I do. In general, oriental aesthetics have a great appeal to me. Also the large amount of Anime I watched since when I was a child certainly contributed to forming a the aesthetic that is reflected in my work.

What feelings do you wish to convey with your paintings?
PP: When I paint I often do not really realise what I am doing, many times it is when the work is finished that I can interpret a work and understand myself and why I painted it. In my first exhibition, I investigated loneliness and acceptance, and then I told a story about a journey in search of one's inner child... At the moment, I am concentrating on our perception of the world, how things can change their value according to our approach and the way we see them. I wouldn't talk so much about sensations, what I feel like doing is giving the observer food for thought through a representation of an image.

How do you define your style?
PP: Difficult question... I don't know if you can call it PopSurrealism or Lowbrow... I simply paint what at that moment allows me to express myself best. Contemporary Figurative? I leave that to the viewers to decide.

What are your next projects?
PP: In the immediate future I have an exhibition entitled 'ALTERED VISIONS' in London from 11 April 2024 at the Dorothy Circus Gallery, an exhibition for which I am currently finalising the works. In January 2025, an exhibition in TaiPei and in the meantime I am also working on a very important project for a major collaboration, but I am not saying anything out of superstition.