THE ALGORITHM OF LIGHT
Where Digital Precision meets Aero-Soul.
THE VIBRATION
Before I ever picked up a spray can, I listened. My journey didn’t start with paint; it started with keys and brass. I spent some time playing piano and SAX.
I spent countless nights in smoky jazz clubs, not just hearing the music, but feeling the physical vibration of the instruments. I wanted to capture that frequency. I wanted to freeze that suspended moment of tension before the note is played. I tried to reproduce those vibrations on canvas using the only visual language I knew: the aerosol spray.
LUCI DI PROFILO
This is why the collection is named “Luci di Profilo” (Profile Lights).
In a jazz club, the musician is rarely fully lit. They are sculpted by a single spotlight, cutting through the darkness. The face disappears, and only the profile remains—the intention, the sweat, the effort. My work is not about painting portraits; it’s about painting that specific light that reveals the soul of the performance.
DIGITAL MIND, ANALOG HAND
Coming from an experience with metropolitan graffiti, I was fluent in the language of spray paint. But the real revolution happened when I installed in the early ’90s the first version of CorelDRAW on my computer. It opened a new world.
I realized I could translate shadows into mathematics. By calculating fields and converting images into vectors, I could print on cardstock without losing detail. It was the perfect marriage between my digital mindset and my analog roots.
THE ENGINEERING OF THE STENCIL
Before printing, I have to act like an engineer. A stencil is a fragile web of positive and negative spaces. I must “debug” the drawing: if I cut a closed shape without a bridge, the matrix falls apart.
I digitally deconstruct the image into multiple layers. Then, the computer shuts down, and the physical act begins.
PAINTING WITH LIGHT
The spray technique allows the white acrylic to expand, creating those signature halos of light around the subjects. It transforms a flat vector file into a vibrating, three-dimensional emotion.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
The narrative power of “Luci di Profilo” has been recognized by the academic world.
Historian Guido Michelone selected Gibba’s artworks for the covers of 5 major publications on the history of Jazz, including “Il Jazz” (Vol. 1), “Musica e Media”, and the anthology “Swing in Versi”.
“Gibba transforms the small photo observed in books into grand acrylics on canvas… In his paintings, chromatic contrasts reach the unique thresholds of whites, grays, and blacks, emanating a surplus of shine and brightness. He captures the jazzman grappling with himself, in complete solitude, in a metaphysical darkness.”
— Guido Michelone
(Historian of Jazz, Professor at Università Cattolica of Milan)
THE VISUAL VOICE OF JAZZ
A LEGACY OF LIVE MUSIC
Selected Exhibitions & Venues:
Alburni Jazz Festival (Salerno)
Caruso Jazz Club Firenze (Florence) Official Partner Venue
Bar Wolf (Bologna) – Official Partner Venue
Pastis (Turin)
Cantine Morbelli (Ivrea) – Official Partner Venue
- CAP (Turin)
- Eurojazz (Pavone)
