About Andrea Pazienza
Chapter 06: Massimo Osti Studio X Andrea Pazienza
Andrea Pazienza and Massimo Osti: talent and genius.
Pazienza, one of the most influential Italian comic artists of the 20th century, with his bold style, created autobiographical characters such as Pentothal, Zanardi, and Pompeo, who embodied the social tensions of the time.
His works, published in magazines like Frigidaire and Cannibale, captured Bologna’s context with a sharp, ironic gaze.
Osti, the sportswear pioneer, brought his experience as a graphic designer to clothing,
experimenting with innovative materials and unconventional processes.
His tools weren’t scissors and pins, but ink, tracing paper, and a small black notebook he carried in his pocket. He treated garments like canvases, using photocopying, silkscreen printing, placed prints, and four-colour processes. Inspired by military clothing, workwear, and comics, he revolutionized communication through fashion.
Immersed in Bologna’s vibrant cultural scene of the ’70s, both fostered interdisciplinary exchange and a dynamic creative dialogue.
To celebrate their talent and genius, the Chapter’s garments feature original prints of Pazienza’s works.
OSTI AND PAZIENZA, BOLOGNA'S CREATIVE PIONEERS
In the ’70s, with the birth of DAMS, the first Italian university course dedicated to art, music, and the performing arts, Bologna became the epicentre of Italian artistic production.
This ferment led to artistic and cultural movements in which different talents shared ideas and experimented with new languages.
Among the key locations in this movement was Massimo Osti’s studio in Gaibola, a hill just outside Bologna, where creative minds gathered to develop the new cultural boundaries of the time.
Other important locations included Andrea Pazienza’s house on Via Emilia Ponente, the Traumfabrik, a squatted space that became a refuge for creative talents of all kinds, and the Elios print shop.
These spaces not only fueled the city’s creative vitality but also anticipated the concept of the modern community.
In this dynamic environment, Osti’s revolutionary approach to sportswear found fertile ground, inspired by the contamination of different disciplines.
In 1984, commissioned to redesign Volvo’s uniforms, Osti asked Pazienza to create illustrations for the patches of various departments.
The connection between Pazienza’s talent and Osti’s genius became a true example of the creative synergies in Bologna.
