# 6 Painting

Davide Gnani - aka Saco - was born in Sicily, Italy in 1991. From a young age, he was fascinated by the expressive freedom and communicative power of graffiti, and this remains a key reference point in many of his works. Davide studied at the Institute of Art in Messina where he specialised in painting and pictorial decoration. He also explored action painting and informal painting - styles which reject the traditional concept of form in favour of gestural and spontaneous expression reminiscent of many American and Italian artists of the 1960s from whom Davide takes inspiration, such as Jackson Pollock and Emilio Vedova. After graduating, Davide spent two years in Messina painting full-time before moving in 2015 to Amsterdam, Holland where he now lives and paints. He still regularly visits Italy to participate in public art events across the country.