Onze's style

"Onze’s personal, expressive style – a mix of techniques which are always figurative technical but with abstract tendencies – is able to be, at the same time pleasantly classic and excitingly innovative. Surprisingly his composite disharmony, purposefully done, results very harmonic. His color combinations, being audacious and daring, are revealed to be quite successful. His homage to the usual, traditional “romantic” Italian illustration are simultaneously balanced with a light background and affectionate irony. His pictorial culture is blended with intelligence with regards to the functionality of the illustration, while his illustrative expression remains a passionate testimony of a highly worthy pictorial."

Ferruccio Giromini

Onze's landscapes

"In Onze’s landscapes sometimes we hear (see) the echo of the human dimension of the city, or rather of the village, because outside the big agglomerations and major communication routes, a past resists that is nevertheless marked by the old, cut away from each “youth " in the city dominated instead by machines, and humans who, when present, seem to be but appendages."

Goffredo Fofi

Onze

Onze (Stefano Centonze) lives and works in Rome, where he was born in 1967. His illustrations have appeared in Dolce Vita, Vanity, Rockstar, Gambero Rosso, Blue, Nessuno tocchi Caino, Internazionale, Linea d'ombra, Alias, Musica!!!, Bravacasa, Urban and Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica, Liberazione, Il manifesto. In 1998, he received the annual award Lo straniero by Goffredo Fofi's quarterly publication of the same name.
In 1999 he became the illustrator for the monthly publication Fuoriluogo and in 2001, the weekly Donnamoderna. His work has been exhibited in Rome, Genova and Parma.
His illustrations have been used in advertising campaigns for Roman Summer '98, Renault Clio (both by Saatchi & Saatchi), Toscano Immobiliare (by Young & Rubicam) and Noi Donne (by Ambrosio & Maloni). He has also designed bookcovers for the publishers Mondadori and Feltrinelli. He's the illustrator for the bookcovers of the series Contromano by Laterza. His illustrations consist of various techniques such as pencil, acrylic paint, collage, photography, paintbrush and computer.

Photo by Alessandro Palazzi