Piero Clemente Gareffa

Piero is a first-generation Italian artist who lives and works in Fitzroy, but spiritually he’s somewhere between a Mildura vineyard, a Calabrian kitchen, and a church gift shop full of tiny glossy saints. His work is a love letter to the old country—Italy, Calabria, and the family stories wrapped up in both.

He grew up surrounded by grapevines, Nonna’s tomato-splattered stovetop, and tales from the old world. A stint living in Italy sealed the deal—Piero’s practice is as much about memory as it is about material.

He’s done the MFA thing at RMIT, shown work in all the right places (Paul Guest Prize, Pro Hart Outback Prize), and somehow manages to keep surprising people, even when they think they’ve got the whole “Italian nostalgia” thing figured out. His work’s held in public collections, but it still feels like something you’d find tucked inside your Nonno’s drawer—alongside a few rosary beads and a supermarket loyalty card from 1997.