He loves to define himself as an ‘art worker’ and, since he was a child, his passion was drawing. Michelangelo Manente, a cartoonist from Molfetta (he lives between Puglia and Milan), approaches the world of caricature and cartooning and, over the years, becomes popular thanks to his caricatures that tell the world of football.
Your passion for drawing was born at school. How did your training path develop?
In elementary school I was the child in charge of the school newspaper. I spent many periods of the school year drawing, writing and above all photocopying the various pages of the newspaper. I practically did everything myself. It was a bit of a preview of my work given that, in addition to drawing, I also deal with graphics in the editorial sector. What is called destiny. Subsequently, from middle school, the turn of the school desks finally arrives, which underwent my first artistic impromptu events. In terms of training, I have always managed to be self-taught but I would like to take some technique lessons because I want to fill some teaching gaps.
You liked to portray your professors. How did they react?
Clearly my favorite victims could only be the professors. A classic. Just as the consequence was classic, once I was caught (that is, always) they sent me to the janitor to get a rag and alcohol to clean the counter and eliminate any trace of a pen or pencil. Cleaning was also an artistic form, often underestimated.
Was it difficult to make your way into this industry?
The artistic world, but craftsmanship in general, has somewhat particular dynamics. Knowing how to do something is not the only useful skill for creating your own market, in fact another aspect that I consider very important is knowing how to expose yourself to create your own network. Public relations is a factor that has a great weight in my opinion and can be the determining element. I also really like meeting interesting people and hanging out in places where it is possible to exchange professional and non-professional experiences. Let’s say that I am not an artist (even if I like to define myself as an “art worker”) who closes himself in his own workshop to produce works, I need human interactions, movement, chaos and disorder.
What impact has the world of social media had on your work?
For a few years now, social media has intervened and revolutionized the way of making progress: engaging algorithms and sponsoring content has become almost more important than the quality of what is produced. Making numbers on social media almost becomes the primary objective. I made the choice to invest more in “analog” channels (events, fairs, on the street, etc.) because I feel they are more similar to my parameters.
What were your favorite cartoons?
In the eighties or nineties I saw a lot of them, I’m 46 years old and, pass the term to me, I’m from the AN generation (forward Naruto). If I have to name one name above all, I would say Ken the Warrior, I must have seen the whole series at least seven times but I never understood much of the story because I always watched it with paper and pencil to draw it in real time while the images scrolled. Then I liked the Knights of the Zodiac, the tiger man, various robots, Holly and Benji, City Hunter, Lupine (but especially Margot), Gigi the spinning top, Dragon Ball and many many others. I drew them all now even while blindfolded.
Not only artists, singers but also footballers and coaches. Are you a big football fan?
Absolutely yes, I played football, or rather “ball”, a lot, from the streets to the football and five-a-side football pitches. My body hates me now because I’ve worn it out so much. Currently, in fact, I’m trying to cure my various ailments so I can continue playing a game with friends every now and then, clearly between one pain and another. Fate then allowed me to often work in the “balloon” field, in fact I am always super up to date so as to be able to churn out cartoons and cartoons in line with current events. Among other things, this area of my work has also allowed me to meet some celebrities from football and beyond and to be able to have a pleasant chat to get to know the person better rather than the character. I learned many interesting things.
A character you would like to portray?
There would be many, honestly you catch me unprepared but a few names can be mentioned. I’ll make a premise, I’ve actually drawn hundreds of them in the studio, but, since I’m also a live caricaturist, I’ll tell you some names that I’d like to draw live so I can also take this opportunity to exchange a few sarcastic jokes, characters that I would personally like: the Mago Forrest, Maccio Cappatonda, Checco Zalone, Simone Inzaghi, Giovanni Trapattoni, Antonio Conte… I’ll stop here otherwise the list would be long.
Contacts:
Cartoonist – Graphic designer – Caricaturist |Michelangelo Manente
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