“Dance dance dance” is a work by Olimpia Zagnoli, one of the most renowned figures in the contemporary illustration scene. She is an artist born in 1984 in Reggio Emilia and raised in Milan, the city where she still lives and works today. Her fame, in addition to a series of exhibitions and independent projects, is tied to her numerous illustrations published by major European and American journalistic outlets (from “The Guardian” to “Vanity Fair”, from “The New Yorker” to “The New York Times”), her conception of advertising campaigns for global companies (Google, Hermès, Air France) and the images created for various fashion brands (including Prada and Dior). Her editorial work is also noteworthy, commissioned by publishers such as Taschen, Penguin Books and Feltrinelli.
Dating back to 2017, the illustration highlights several distinctive features of her style. It can be observed, for instance, how the figures are repeated and symmetrical, arranged in this case in overlapping rows; a characteristic that evokes the serial nature of Pop Art and the expressive modes of artists like Keith Haring, but in the case of the Italian illustrator, it often results from graphic iterations within a single composition. Frequently, the constituent elements are juxtaposed, placed side by side, and replicated — in pairs or in larger series — to contribute to creating images that are particularly effective in terms of communication and balanced from a formal perspective.
Another noticeable element when observing the various poses in which the figures are represented is a distinctive sense of movement, both synthetic and harmonious. There’s a compositional rhythm in which the elements, though arranged quite regularly, exhibit a certain degree of sinuosity that emanates from the forms themselves: from soft lines, arabesques, doodles, or, as seen here, from the warm colours dominating the scene. This carries a “modernist” quality (reminiscent of creations by Picasso, Matisse, the futurist Depero, Bruno Munari), which is at once nostalgic and thoroughly contemporary, relying on the use of lines and geometric shapes guided by a fresh and brilliant mind capable of conveying a carefree energy.
Indeed, playful elements abound in Olimpia Zagnoli’s illustrations, a world that seems like an optimistic, minimalist and progressive kaleidoscope. Even when not overtly aiming to assert positive values or raise awareness about civil rights, her colourful imagination inherently carries implicit reminders of embracing all diversities and gender equality. This is further fuelled by the prominence of a diverse array of figures, primarily female, akin to those depicted in this image: free, joyful and imaginative.