Last September, I found myself back in Lacco Ameno, on the island of Ischia. I’ve been bringing live digital painting performances to Ischia for over a decade, but this project felt different. This time, the canvas was the town itself, and the subject was Angelo Rizzoli, the visionary publisher and film producer who helped shape the island’s golden age of Dolce Vita glamour.
For the installation, Viva Rizzoli, I wanted to do more than decorate the architecture with light and colour. I wanted to tap into a collective memory. Using a mix of live and recorded digital painting, we projected Rizzoli’s world, his cinema, his civic generosity and his impact on landmarks such as Villa Arbusto and the Anna Rizzoli Hospital, directly onto the streets he helped transform.
I was fortunate to collaborate with Cenzino Di Meglio, whose deep passion for the story gave the evening its emotional compass. As Cenzino beautifully put it during our planning: “We didn’t just want to light up the streets; we wanted to illuminate the values he left us.”
Standing there, watching the community react to its own history projected above them, was unforgettable. I’m immensely grateful to the Municipality of Lacco Ameno, and especially to Vice Mayor Carla Tufano, for trusting me with a project that bridged local history and contemporary digital art.
Ultimately, the night reminded me why I keep coming back to Ischia. Light and images are fleeting. They transform a space for just a few hours. But when they are done with care, they can reveal the magic that was already sitting there in the dark.
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