Un burattino elastico fra illustrazione e animazione. Il corpo di Pinocchio nelle pratiche artistiche di Gianluigi Toccafondo

The essay investigates the representation of Pinocchio in Gianluigi Toccafondo’s artistic practices, mainly analyzing the figurative motifs. Collodi’s puppet is, indeed, explicitly at the center of several works by Toccafondo, which are interested in painting, illustration and animated cinema. Using his distinctive visual style, Toccafondo contaminates drawings and animations with cinematographic references. This is how the puppet takes the form of Totò while the Cat and the Fox take those of Laurel and Hardy. Through the analysis of the representation of Pinocchio’s body, the essay wants to capture and interpret a significant update of the symbolic elements inherent in the imaginary of Pinocchio in contemporary age.