Francesca Levi’s “Indossa l’Arte”: When Painting Becomes Wearable

At M45 in Milan, seven hand-painted one-of-a-kind garments bring the visual languages of Miró, Klimt, Fontana, Picasso, Kandinsky and Hokusai into dialogue with fashion, material and movement.

MILAN — On September 30, 2026, Francesca Levi presents INDOSSA L’ARTE – DAL QUADRO ALL’ABITO at Galleria d’Arte Marco Bertoli – M45, introducing seven unique garments created through her Art to Wear project.

Each piece is handmade and hand-painted, beginning with the language of an artist and translating it onto the moving surface of clothing. Rather than reproducing paintings literally, Levi extracts elements of sign, colour, form and composition, reworking them according to the architecture of each garment.

The result is a meeting point between artwork and fashion: a painting that no longer remains fixed on a canvas, but moves with the body.

FROM THE CANVAS TO THE BODY

The seven garments engage with the work of Joan Miró, Gustav Klimt, Lucio Fontana, Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky and Katsushika Hokusai, creating individual interpretations of their artistic vocabularies.

For Klimt, gold-toned satin becomes a luminous surface of spirals, geometric details, metallic traces and flashes of colour. His decorative language is redistributed across the construction of the garment, extending toward the cuffs and neckline.

With Miró, Levi focuses on the expressive power of colour and line. Red, blue, yellow and black emerge against a neutral ground through simplified forms, delicate lines and suspended figures, extending across the front and back of the dress.

The work inspired by Picasso moves toward fragmentation. Grey, black and silver create overlapping planes and geometric structures that shift as the fabric moves.

For Kandinsky, rhythm, geometry and the tension between colour and form become the foundation for a new composition.

THE GESTURE OF FONTANA

The dialogue with Lucio Fontana takes a more reductive approach.

Inspired by the artist’s exploration of the cut and the relationship between surface and space, Levi introduces a more restrained visual language in which the interruption of the surface becomes part of the composition.

The reference carries particular significance within the exhibition itself.

M45, located at Via Manzoni 45, occupies an address historically connected to the former Galleria del Naviglio and to the artistic context surrounding Fontana and Spatialism.

The connection continues through the identity of M45, whose graphic language incorporates the line separating the “M” from the number 45.

HOKUSAI AND THE MOVEMENT OF WATER

The final artistic dialogue turns toward Hokusai and movement.

For the exhibition, Levi revisits a long black dress created several years ago and inspired by The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

The force of the water and its spray are translated into a garment whose appearance inevitably changes once it is worn.

Here, the image is no longer static. The movement of the body becomes part of the artwork.

ART TO WEAR

What connects the seven pieces is the transformation itself.

These are not paintings transferred onto clothing, but seven interpretations constructed through different artistic languages.

The garments retain the visible presence of the handmade gesture, preserving the individuality and uniqueness of the process. Brushstrokes, layers, material variations and the relationship between front, back and movement become essential to understanding each piece.

The artwork is therefore experienced differently depending on where the viewer stands — and, ultimately, on how the garment moves through space.

THE ARTIST AND DESIGNER

Francesca Levi has developed a multidisciplinary practice spanning art, jewelry, furniture, design and fashion.

Following her education at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, studies in architecture and a degree in Industrial Design from the Scuola Politecnica di Design, Levi has continued to explore the relationship between visual art and design.

Painting directly onto garments has become a central part of her practice, with unique pieces in which the handmade intervention remains deliberately visible.

A DIALOGUE BETWEEN ART AND FASHION

At M45, the garments temporarily leave behind their traditional function and become objects for contemplation.

Yet their relationship with the body remains essential.

That tension — between the artwork meant to be observed and the garment meant to be worn — defines INDOSSA L’ARTE.

Francesca Levi does not simply transfer an image from canvas to fabric. She transforms it.

The painting gains movement. The garment becomes a surface for artistic expression. And fashion becomes another way of experiencing art.

INDOSSA L’ARTE – DAL QUADRO ALL’ABITO
Francesca Levi
Opening: September 30, 2026
Galleria d’Arte Marco Bertoli – M45
Via Manzoni 45, Milan