Maurizio Ricucci, known as EricsOne, is a renowned street artist of Milan.
In the early 2000s I started as a graffiti writer producing a high quantity of illegal work in Milan. This allowed me to develop a great speed in the execution of a piece and acquire a lot of visibility. I had a passion for comics and cartoons that went hand in hand with writing discipline, thus I loved inventing characters with a strong expressiveness, and I became famous precisely for those big faces on street corners of my city.
Besides the great pioneers of graffiti art, my greatest inspirations come from the design of 70s’ advertisements, cartoons, and the Italian futurist school. Then, with time and study I found my formula that consists in summarizing it all in a few lines. Music is essential during my compositions as for me drawing is like when a producer cuts a sample and makes it shine with a new light. Anyway, I prefer freestyle art than planning art.
In 2016 I went it alone and started to work as a freelance illustrator, I collaborated with several brands and exhibited in many galleries. Nevertheless, the work that gave me visibility was definitely Saucony. I drew a big character wearing a pair of Shadow 6000 on a 30-meter-high building in the heart of Milan.
Besides my personal research and path as an urban artist, now I am collaborating with several brands: one of my latest, large, and lasting projects is with Footlocker. This year I closed a big campaign at the European level, and I am very happy with this collaboration because it gave me the opportunity to range from illustration to design. My vision was really appreciated, and it was a huge achievement for me.
Today my vision of graffiti has completely changed. With the help of my team, I carry out the project called “Street cubism” on big building walls both in the centers and in the suburbs all over Italy. I collaborate with many associations that deal with urban redevelopment and the great thing is that you can connect to different people and be able to bring home the result in a different way each time. With experience, I realized that our work is not limited to the design week, but it can also change the inhabitants’ perception of their neighborhood. Many times, indeed, I get people involved during my work, they paint with me, so that they can also feel a little bit more part of the project.
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For DareClan
Images provided by EricsOne
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