Vespa. A myth. A timeless icon. A protagonist of the country's industrial history, an undisputed symbol of Italian style, progress and design all over the world.

To celebrate it at the Piaggio Museum in Pontedera, is Stefano Berardino, a young artist from Piedmont, passionate about engines, who has made  the two and four wheels the artistic subjects of his entire pictorial production.

From 22 October 2022 to 13 January 2023, extended until 31 January 2023, the Piaggio Museum hosts #THATSMOTORINGART @MuseoPiaggio. The Icons of Made in Italy.

Spatula, color and canvas ... Berardino has created about thirty works for the exhibition, painted in oil or acrylic in a rigorous graphic style that winks at Pop Art, on a material background often enriched with sand and quartz powder.

The paintings, all large, tell the Vespa as if in a real “fashion show”: from the elegant models of the 1950s and 1960s to its more contemporary variations. Everything is in the context of a harmonious and captivating setting , which finds a perfect location in the temporary exhibitions area of the Piaggio Museum, in the heart of the old Piaggio workshops and in dialogue with the unique models exhibited by this real "temple" of the history of Italian mobility and style. A history to which Berardino dedicates a tribute in the paintings dedicated to other Piaggio products, such as the small car produced in France in the 1950s (the Vespa 400) and the beloved three-wheeler Ape, without forgetting the motorcycle sector, with four works dedicated to the long history of Moto Guzzi, which recently celebrated its 100 years of life and great successes.

The Icons of Made in Italy, an exhibition curated and produced by the Piaggio Foundation and the architect Luca Masi, with layout and graphic design by Silvia Paracchini and Claudio Bellosta, is a tribute to the forms and history of one of the most significant iconic vehicles of our country a demonstration of love and pride for Made in Italy, which is embodied through the art, color, spatula and passion of Stefano Berardino.

Stefano Berardino, from Orta San Giulio (Novara-Italy), was born in 1992 and approached the world of art following his father’s footsteps, the artist Nicola Berardino. After completing his studies, in 2011 at the age of 19, he exhibited for his first time at the OrtArte Gallery in Orta San Giulio. In the following years he began the promotion of his works by participating in international art competitions and later inaugurated a temporary art gallery in the historic center of Arona. In 2015 he was selected for an art tour in Spain with two exhibitions at the C.A.C. Mijas Museum Picasso and at the Museo de Los Galves in Macharaviaya (Malaga). He participated in the tribute to Picasso at the CASINO DE MARBELLA with some works selected for the presentation cover of the event, concluding the journey at the CLUB NAUTIC in SALOU (Terragona). During 2016 he was selected for the City of Trivero Art Award, in the Province of Biella. At the end of 2018 he organized the personal exhibition entitled  "ThatsMotoringArt, when passion is the engine that drives art” curated by OrtaVintage - OrtArte Gallery at the Mirafiori Gallery in Turin. Given the success of the exhibition, the artist was hired to exhibit the collection as a permanent one at the Mirafiori Gallery. In February 2020 Berardino inaugurated a solo exhibition entitled "# ThatsMotoringArt® The Art of Motors in London" at the Fiat Chrysler Motor Village Marylebone in London: a collection of 27 works celebrating for the occasion the anniversaries of Panda and Alfa Romeo, completing the collection with two personalized works.

www.museopiaggio.it - ​​www.stefanoberardino.com