Antonino La Vela
Antonino La Vela is an Italian artist and art writer based near Turin, Italy. His work moves between visual art and critical writing, with a particular interest in visibility, power, identity, ecology, gender and the political conditions in which images and artworks circulate.
He writes and edits The Art Trace, an independent journal of contemporary art and visual culture publishing criticism, interviews, essays and long-form research.
His independent artistic practice and portfolio can be found at antoninolavela.com.
Artist and art writer
I work between visual art and critical writing. I do not consider the studio and the page as separate disciplines. Both are ways of examining how images acquire meaning, how visibility is distributed and what happens when art enters political and social reality.
My artistic practice combines painting, assemblage and conceptual strategies, while my writing develops through criticism, interviews, essays and direct conversations with artists and cultural figures.
Visibility, power and consequence
A recurring question across both practices concerns the relationship between visibility and consequence. Contemporary culture produces an extraordinary quantity of images, testimonies and representations, but being seen does not necessarily produce change.
My research therefore focuses not only on what becomes visible, but on what visibility does: who gains agency, who remains exposed, who is protected, who is erased and what forms of responsibility can follow an image, an artwork or a public gesture.
Thinkism
This approach also informs what I call Thinkism: a way of understanding art in which conceptual weight is as important as formal presence.
Painting can operate as a form of critical writing, while writing can construct images, tensions and spaces of interpretation. The work is not intended as decoration or as a closed statement, but as a question that remains active after it has been encountered.
The Art Trace
Alongside my studio practice, I write and edit The Art Trace.
The journal publishes independent criticism, interviews and research on contemporary art and visual culture, with particular attention to political art, feminism, ecology, identity, institutional power and the cultural mechanisms that determine what becomes visible.
The Art Trace was previously published as Antonino La Vela Art Journal. The change of name gives the editorial project a clearer identity while maintaining the same archive and authorship.
Writing and interviews
My writing includes interviews, exhibition reports, critical essays and thematic research. I am particularly interested in conversations that move beyond promotion and allow artists to discuss contradictions, political contexts and the consequences of their work.
Explore art writing and interviews
Selected writing
- Feminism in Art Isn’t a Style: It’s a Battle Over Visibility
- Feminism
- LGBTQ+ Art and Its Role
- Art, AIDS and Queer Love
- Interview: Aki Inomata
Official links
- Artist portfolio
- The Art Trace
- Artribune author page
- Medium
- X
- YouTube
- Tumblr
- Bluesky
- RSS feed
- Contact
Short bio
Antonino La Vela is an Italian artist and art writer based near Turin. His practice moves between visual art and critical writing and explores the relationships between visibility, power, identity, ecology and responsibility. He writes and edits The Art Trace, an independent journal of contemporary art and visual culture.
Thinkism
Explore writing related to Thinkism.