PIZZA AND ART

“Pizzadelphia” mural by Hawk Krall, Philadelphia

Given its late diffusion on the international scene, pizza is not as present in classical art as other kinds of food, like meat or desserts. It is however a popular subject and, why not, also an amazing matter for contemporary art. Philadelphia based illustrator Hawk Krall decided to celebrate the city’s love for pizza by painting a huge mural depicting celebrities from the city eating pizzas, including Bill Cosby and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Brooklyn artist Sheryo did something similar in New York, where he included a pizza “Pizzadelphia” mural by Hawk Krall, Philadelphia mural in his Food Murals series. Japanese graphic designer Yusuke Fuji created a new writing font by organizing eight slices of pizza around the basic shape of a circle. One of the most extravagant art projects involving pizza surely is Jonpaul Douglass’s Pizza in the Wild series; in 2013 the American photographer started running around LA and taking pictures of pizzas that he positions in random places all over the city. Swedish artist Thomas Lund, on the other hand, went even further and created the Paint Your Pizza website, where anyone could create a painting that would later be reproduced on a pizza using various ingredients and delivered to the client’s house.

“Mail”, Pizza in the Wild series by Jon-paul Douglass, Los Angeles

In the past twenty years pizza has even made its debut on fashion runways. Worldwide known designers included pizza in their designs, simply as a pattern or as the absolute protagonist on the catwalk. Surely no one will soon forget iconic pieces such as Jeremy Scott’s Pizza Silk Robe for the Food Fight Collection by Moschino or Beyonce’s pizza patterned t-shirt and pants outfit designed by Kiko Mizuhara X The Opening Ceremony.

Pizza Silk Robe, Jeremy Scott for Moschino

Pizza and Social Media

Food bloggers, influencers, Instagram celebrities - in the era of shared graphic content, no one can resist a good photo, and what’s better-looking than pizza? The hashtag #pizza has almost 50 million posts and a huge number of dedicated profiles on Instagram. There is a community of food influencers producing content specifically revolving around pizza; one among the others is Italian master pizzaiolo Ian Spampatti, that posts dough making and cooking tips on his Instagram profile (29.5k followers) and Youtube channel (44k followers). Pizza has also been the center of a few viral phenomena during the years; worth mentioning are Italian chef Domenico Corolla, whose portraits of celebrities “painted” on pizza with tomato sauce went viral after being posted on Facebook, and Chiara Ferragni - worldwide known businesswoman, influencer and model - who gave life at the “self-regenerating pizza” joke after posting a picture of herself eating a slice of pizza from a non-cut, full pizza.

Chiara and Valentina Ferragni