Antonio Nardone, born 1964 in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, is a Brussels-based contemporary artist. He studied Paintings in both the Brussels’s Fine Arts academy and the Institute of Fine Arts in Beijing (1987 & 1988). He also completed his studies with a licence in Art History in the Université Libre de Bruxelles. 
Tell us your story, why did you become an artist?
I may have wanted to live the bohemian life! Most of all, I have always been drawn to creation. Combined with a passion for Art history, becoming an artist was an evidence. As I wanted a broader training, I’ve studied both Painting and Art History in my own country, but I’ve also made a point to be trained in Traditional Painting in Beijing. This has influenced my career to the day!
When you create a new work, how do you go about it? What comes first?
I love to explore the mediums. There is a high probability I will start to produce a serie just because I’ve had a new medium idea taken from the daily life. Take the “Loque” serie for example; I’ve made some test first on the absorption degree of the floorcloth, and then I’ve tested different paints, oils and inks. I also have a creating process where I work on a traditional medium and just let my creativity run on the colours or on the density of the China’s ink. Painting to me is usually started with some kind of reflexion on the materials I use to create.
What can you tell us about your studio, what makes it special to you and how does it influence the way you work?
I work in a very luminous and open-spaced place, shared between a few artists in an ideal situation in Brussels. The light is excellent because of its high and wide windows. The proximity of the other artists is thrilling and of course influence my work. We have a coffee corner where we can discuss and share on our work and life, which participate on the pleasantness of the place to work in! 
Is there a work of art in your life that has especially impressed you?
The Maestà di Ognissanti, Giotto (Firenze, Uffizi). A piece which shows clearly the great swing from Gothic to pre-Renaissance. The gold, the scenography and the structure still show the strength inherited from the Gothic Middle Ages. Nevertheless, the bodies show the early stages of the future plump ones, the faces are softs and sweetness perspire from their looks and cheeks. It is the merge of the human gentleness and of the pictorial power. What an impacting painting
Reach to the stars: where will you be in 5 years?
I view the Arts as a broad conglomerate of techniques, people, knowledge, etc. I’m applying this to my own career by having many strings to my bow: apart from being a painter, I am also an editor, a curator, I work in the gallery business as well and recently I’ve started to build my own frames. The experience I gain in each activity has a repercussion on the others and influence my creativity. I draw on each resource to create Art. I wish to continue to weave a web of knowledge and practices in order to produce contemporary art which will, on their own time and ways, inspire others. 
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