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His art comes from the streets of New York. The Swiss Christian Calabro creates street art with posters.
Exhibiting your work in the chic Soho district of New York is a dream for many artists. It has become reality for the Swiss Christian Calabro. He didn’t emigrate to New York in 1994 to make art, but to study graphic design. He graduated, worked as a designer for a music label, and even received two Grammy nominations for his CD box designs, one for Charlie Parker and one for Louis Armstrong.
His graphic eye has been wandering around for years. Christian Calabro collects poster scraps from walls as inspiration for his designs. Eight years ago he began making collages with these scraps of posters – with success: today he makes a living from his art.
Legend:
Art from waste by the Swiss artist Christian Calabro.
«XL Scarp Composition» / Christian Calabro
Working with scraps of collage made from rubbish fascinates the Zurich native. The sustainable art form is a complex process. The individual poster pieces are first glued together on a canvas. Only when Christian Calabro is satisfied with the work does he glue the paper elements on. “I do this until it satisfies me and I no longer know what to do next,” he says.
His works arouse great interest. He has already created art for stars such as Michael Jackson and Depeche Mode. Calabro’s masterpieces have been exhibited in many parts of Europe and the United States.
Christian goes New York
The highlight of his career: Calabro’s art is now being exhibited in New York’s Soho district in collaboration with the Colombian artist Magdalena Manotas. The two artists worked together in the studio for six weeks. The Colombian creates the background while Christian focuses on the details. “Basically, it’s about being attracted to this waste,” says the Swiss. The difficulty lies in making something creative out of the waste.