Welcome to “Senza nome”, “nameless”, an evocative work by Nemo’s, an artist who has always used drawing as his primary language to narrate the world and its contradictions.

Nemo’s began painting at a young age, and since 2002, he has brought his art to the walls of abandoned factories and forgotten places. His artistic name is inspired by the protagonist of Winsor McCay’s comic “Little Nemo in Slumberland,” a tribute to the dreamlike world often reflected in his works. Early on, Nemo’s was captivated by anatomy books, biology, the comics he found at home, and the sci-fi and dystopian films of the 1980s.

At the core of his work is the human being as a “social animal,” a naked, defenseless, and vulnerable creature, caught between nature and self-destruction. His art exposes the contradictions of our society, revealing humanity as it is: a survivor, stripped of hierarchies, driven by the sole objective of staying alive. Nemo’s portrays this condition with a rawness that lies somewhere between wonder and disgust, delivering striking and unsettling images of contemporary life.

His work has left a mark all over the world, from the outskirts of Latin America to the United States, India, Africa, and Europe. Nemo’s often works in marginalized communities, prisons, and abandoned spaces, where his art not only decorates but also gives voice to the invisible. His career includes the publication of two books with the Italian publisher Logos, one dedicated to his drawings and the other focused on the theme of water.

Nemo’s is not fixated on technique but on the message. For him, technique for its own sake is hollow: the essential goal is to communicate a clear and direct message, removing anything that could distract from it. This approach also guides the piece you see here at the Interporto di Bologna.

In this painting, Nemo’s tackles a timely and heartbreaking issue: the desperate journeys of migrants. Through his characters, he conveys the suffering of those forced to hide in freight cars or containers, embarking on long and dangerous journeys into the unknown. These are lives on the edge, searching for hope, for a better future, willing to risk everything to cross unknown borders. Nemo’s urges us to reflect on these often-invisible lives and the tragic consequences of a society that forces so many people to flee their homeland.

Through this work, the artist gives form to a narrative of migration and struggle, shedding light on stories that are often hidden but are more urgent and real than ever.