On the occasion of the 79th Venice International Film Festival and Next Generation Awards, MANINTOWN commissioned Jacopo Ascari a series of sketches to interpret our Next Generation Awards winners: Nicolas Maupas, Carolina Sala, Matteo Oscar Giuggioli and Amanda Campana. His illustrations combined art, fashion and architecture (one of his great passions) in watercolour drawings, depicting the faces of the award-winners with vividly coloured reproductions of iconic places and symbols of the Venetian city, from the gondolas (dominated by the winged lion) to the Palazzo del Casinò, the basilica and the bell tower of San Marco.
Moreover Jacopo captured some of the most important actors and actresses on the red carpets, creating a unique interpretation of this event so much rooted in the territory. His work menages to reconcile portraiture and representative views of Venice because as he explains “a beautiful article from 1937 states that the vital finding of the Exhibition is the Venetian insularity of the Lido”.
Palazzo del Cinema and red carpet – “The Palazzo del Cinema, beautiful 1930s architecture, and the magnificent red carpet overlooking the sea. Here I imagined the legendary Golden Lion arriving, hoisted on an unmistakable Venetian gondola” (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
Excelsior Hotel – “From the golden beaches of the Film Festival emerges the mythological Excelsior Venice, a Moorish castle full of charm where everything happens during the festival days” (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
“Luca Guadagnino’s bet (won)” (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
“The vital finding of the Exhibition is the Venetian insularity of the Lido”
Amanda Campana and Matteo Oscar Giuggioli just before the red carpet – “I reached Amanda and Teo’s hotel. The two of them came down at that moment, breathtakingly beautiful and excited about the enchantment that was about to happen” (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
Carolina Sala just before the red carpet – “Carolina, in Dior, was beaming. Particularly self-confident, she stepped off the speedboat and headed for the red carpet: anyone who passed her along the few metres that separated the dock from the Palazzo del Cinema was breathless: ‘But she’s a Marilyn…’” (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
Amanda Campana just before the red carpet – “Amanda was nervous, perhaps unaware of the glow she emanated. On the red carpet, shortly afterwards, we all fell in love with her” (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
Nicolas Maupas just before the red carpet – “Nicolas, handsome and with a more intense look than usual, was nervous and, in his haste, had come within a few centimetres of the red carpet with his bow tie not perfectly fitted. Only the intervention of his agent, in a gesture full of tenderness, allowed the young man to show himself perfectly on the carpet” (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
Ludovica Francesconi just before the red carpet – “I spent some time chatting pleasantly with this delightful young actress: beautiful in her Alberta Ferretti, she enchanted me with tales full of commitment, passion, dedication” (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
Hollywood stars in the Venetian laguna
Camilla Mangiapelo just before the red carpet – “Beautiful and very sweet, I followed her to the beginning of the carpet: full of light in her Genny, she showered us with beauty” (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
Giulia Latini just before the red carpet – “I had already had the opportunity to meet Giulia in Milan, at some joint events. Seeing her transformed into a queen, wrapped in her Gianluca Saitto, was also an opportunity to get to know this special person better” (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
Julianne Moore, President of the Jury (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
Monica Bellucci, Siccità (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
Olivia Wilde, Don’t Worry Darling (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
Catherine Deneuve, Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
Tilda Swinton, The Eternal Daughter (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
Timothée Chalamet, Harry Styles and Brad Pitt, the men of Venice (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
Penélope Cruz, L’immensità (artwork by Jacopo Ascari)
