Self-Portrait Mosaic in Smalti and Mixed-Media with Arianna Gallo

Arianna Gallo graduated with a first-class honour’s degree from Gino Severini Mosaic Institute of Art and from Scuola per il Restauro del Mosaico, Soprintendenza di Ravenna.

During and after her training, Arianna worked as a restorer (1999-2004), she has participated in the conservation of the prestigious Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna.

Between 2000 and 2005 she taught mosaic techniques at the CISIM, International Center for Mosaic Teaching Studies, a specialist international mosaic school based in Lido Adriano, Ravenna.

Arianna has participated in the making of the replica of the monumental Alexander Mosaic for the House of the Faun, Pompei (2002-2004), the most famous and largest opus vermiculatum mosaic in the world.

Arianna opened Koko Mosaico in 2005, an independent mosaic studio in the heart of the old city of Ravenna, together with her husband, the visual artist Luca Barberini.

The works created by Koko Mosaico range from copies of ancient mosaics to commissions of original modern and contemporary mosaics, suitable for interiors as well as external architectural spaces.

She also collaborates with international contemporary artists, interpreting their work in the mosaic medium. Among the most important projects of the studio, the translation of Domingo Zapata's works for the Venice Biennale, 2013.

The activity of Koko Mosaico is supervised by Arianna, creative director of the laboratory, a multifaceted figure who deals not only with the conception, design and production.

Arianna and her team continue to explore the language of mosaic, while never losing sight of its ancient traditions, also with the teaching of mosaic techniques.

Students from all over the world come to Koko Mosaico willing to learn this ancient art, also mosaic artists eager to broaden their knowledge.

The Direct Ravenna Method course is the master, through the latter the phases of the direct technique on temporary support (lime /clay) or the secrets of the direct technique on cement mortar are explored.

The Koko Mosaico team is capable of mastering the most disparate techniques of execution.

The workshop is an open studio, full of light and international in character: a space where ideas become reality.

Arianna is also responsible for overseeing Italian and international commissions and all artistic collaborations at the studio.

She has accrued significant experience in organizing workshops both abroad and in her studio in Ravenna, where she hosts Erasmus exchange students including those with the Academy of Fine Arts and the Mosaic Conservation programme held at the Ravenna branch of Bologna University.

She has organized a range of mosaic projects and has collaborated with the public sector, with museums and universities both in Italy and with several independent mosaic studios in Europe, the US, Canada, and Australia.

As an artist, she regularly exhibits and has recently participated in exhibition Piccoli Mosaici at NeoHouse, Tokyo; Kyoto Mosaic Exhibition, Japan, and shows in Florence and Rome, as well as Ravenna.

Arianna has won many prizes and recognition for her artwork and its role in social engagement. In 2019, her interpretation of the artwork Scar by Chinese artist Peng Shuai won the GAeM award.

Icon of her style, Lens was acquired by MAR, Museum of Art of Ravenna in 2009.