A Piaggio P.180 Avanti II aircraft has been turned into a work of art called “Cacciatore di Stelle by Mimmo Paladino and displayed at Galleria in Milan, Italy.
This is the first time an aircraft has been painted by a contemporary artist, according to company officials, who note Paladino was inspired to create this work of art from the Piaggio P.180 Avanti II because of its unique, unmistakable design.
The P.180 Avanti II “Cacciatore di Stelle” (Star Hunter) will be displayed at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan until April 28.
The metamorphosis of the P.180 Avanti into” Cacciatore di Stelle” recalls both the past and the future, through its decoration with ancestral symbols and possible new ways of communicating: constellations of signs, encompass geometrical spaces to create a celestial map.
The “Cacciatore di Stelle” is part of the anthological and personal exhibition of the artist Mimmo Paladino hosted by the Palazzo Reale (including more than 50 artworks from the 70’s to the present day), which will be enhanced by the renowned “Montagna di Sale” that will be placed in the Piazza Reale.
“We are very proud that Master Mimmo Paladino has now been inspired by a Piaggio Aero P.180 aircraft and that he would turn it into a unique work of art,” said Alberto Galassi, CEO of Piaggio Aero Industries. “The P.180 Avanti has been chosen because it can be considered a work of art itself, as an expression of Italian genius in design and engineering, that’s why this creation is an unprecedented event.”
For more information: PiaggioAero.com
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Hugh Kelso is absolutely right.
This is not the first time an airplane has been painted by an artist. Alexander Calder painted Braniff airliners. From the WikiPedia article on Calder:
Calder’s paintings
In addition to sculptures, Calder painted throughout his career, beginning in the early 1920s. By 1973, Braniff International Airways commissioned him to paint a full-size DC-8-62 as a “flying canvas.” In 1975, Calder completed a second plane, this time a Boeing 727-291, as a tribute to the U.S. Bicentennial. In 1975, he was commissioned by BMW to paint a BMW 3.0 CSL which would come to be the first vehicle in the BMW Art Car Project.
There is another Piaggio, a P136-L2 that some say is more beautiful and will land in the water more than once. Someone should make a model of it. It can be seen on the http://www.p-136.com web site. Particularly the twi pictures on this Piaggio Royal Gull in the air. I wish I could attach a picture here.