The Artist

Franco La Russa (aka Thion) is an Italian multimedia artist and curator based in London. Initially inspired by Keith Haring and the American Pop artists with whom he shared the same interest in popular culture, Thion's work has evolved into a style that is purely his own. After studying Fine Art and Advertising and Graphic Design in Italy, he worked for several years as an Art Director an Illustrator for various agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann and Young & Rubican in Milan. He has since taken on a new digital medium and he is currently creating work that employs an iPad as a powerful tool that brings new possibilities to an established language and practice. Whether he chooses to draw in the traditional way directly on canvas or paper, drawings on an iPad, planning sculptures or whether he make short video installations, Thion's practice is a continuous integrated feedback loop, that remains open to the unexpected.