It thundered so much that it rained!
30.03.2025 Vincenzo Fiore
Best wishes dear Valerio
It thundered so much that it rained! And it rained a lot!
And what Valerio Pisano, a long-time Bic designer with Bic pens, sought, desired, comes true.
Valerio Pisano, born in Lanusei (Sardinia) in 1968, self-taught, began to express himself through drawing at a very young age.
He briefly studied classical studies and then entered the world of work at the age of 19.
The use of the ballpoint pen has always prevailed over all other expressive techniques.
Over the years he has acquired the ability to blend the pen's stroke until it becomes imperceptible. This has allowed him to create drawings that some find hard to believe were made with a pen, calling them prints.
Countless drawn caps, many immortalized pens and thousands of Bic pens used.
An immense river of ink that branches out into many, many streams in the unnerving wait to be seen, noticed and contacted by the management of the Bic pen.
Days of work, years of commitment to improving his artistic message without ever giving up and without ever giving in to disappointment and demoralization for the lack of contact, always stubbornly projected to follow his line also pushed by the many real and virtual fans who follow him on social media.
Here is how such perseverance is finally rewarded.
Yes, also because popular sayings are never wrong: Valerio Pisano was well aware of the popular saying “l’acqua che non ha fatto, in cielo sta” (water that has not made, is in heaven) meaning if something in life is destined to happen, sooner or later it will happen.
And it happened in May 2024 after having positioned in the Bosco di Selene in the deepest Ogliastra, six kilometers from the town of Lanusei, a five-meter sculpture representing a bronze Capo-Tribù in Bic version and having published it on Instagram.
What happens?
Our Valerio Pisano with a private message on Instagram is contacted by a manager of Bic in Paris who, after having complimented him on all his works and on the bronze Capo-Tribù, informs him of the intention of a Bic delegation to visit him to observe his works in real life.
“A blow to the heart. I can’t contain my emotion at such wonderful news. I show the news to a journalist friend who was next to me at the time and I see his eyes widen in surprise: we let ourselves go with expressions of joy and great satisfaction. Finally the right reward!” Valerio tells me, who, still incredulous, immediately gets to work to prepare for the big day, D-Day.
D-Day, which I call Bic-Day, would have coincided with the "Pop Art Arcaica" - Valerio Pisano's solo exhibition set up at the Ferrai Civic Museum in Lanusei from 9 to 16 November 2024 which would have represented the path of his artistic evolution, from his first steps with the Bic pen in school books to the thousands of works, creations and drawings that today populate his artistic universe.
And here is the Bic delegation, picked up at the Cagliari airport and boarding Valerio Pisano's car, marveling at some elements of the car's interior covered with its blue caps and surprised to see along the way shop windows set up with the caps before reaching the Ferrai Museum where they could see what I had prepared for them.
Joy, wonder, surprise, amazement are the essential emotions of the visit of the Parisian delegation that, starting from the museum, continues towards the Selene woods to view the Bic-bronzetto and towards the many articulations of Valerio Pisano's art, such as the Alien Cap, a video that shows the creation of an 80-meter cork made in a wheat field specially granted by the Azienda agricola il Maggese until arriving at the Bic-shaped pistoccu from the Ferreli company, a product that the French Bic delegation was able to taste, appreciating its quality.
Immediately after the greetings, the thanks and the regret for the time that has passed so quickly...
But here is the surprise...
A few days after the departure of the Bic delegation, a post appears on the Bic Instagram profile, an authentic and noble recognition after so much work to the imagination and artistic verve of Valerio Pisano, the Sardinian of Bic, with Valerio's latest creations called Ambiguitappo... or rather a showcase set up in Lanusei in Via Roma in which the Lanusei artist makes the celebration of the Bic pen a metaphor for life with the creation of an entire room with everyday utensils covered with a print with the caps of the iconic pen of the second half of the 20th century and with a romantic scene animated by Pisano himself and his wife entirely made of Bic caps. Menu based on caps included.
The question that Pisano tries to answer with his installation is: "How can we recognize the true intentions of the people we interact with?".
Best wishes and congratulations, dear Valerio, also from us at ScrepMagazine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsqBNcPx8QI
https://screpmagazine.com/tanto-ha-tuonato-che-ha-piovuto/