A Tourist in NY

*A Tourist in NY* imagines E.T.’s return to New York, this time as a discreet visitor. Having learned from past experience, he knows that showing himself too openly would be unwise: in the metropolis, every unexpected appearance provokes questions, curiosity, and perhaps an excess of earthly vigilance. He therefore moves silently through Manhattan, hiding among reflections, vertical lights, and urban details, even finding shelter inside a subway clock. He is neither an invader nor a solemn explorer: he is simply an extraordinary tourist, observing the city with the wonder of someone who sees it — quite literally — from another world.

I would like to thank my photographer friend Stefano Speleotis for making this subject available to me. I met him at Culture Lab in New York during last year’s exhibition with the Rambaldi Foundation.
After completing the painting — almost entirely with brushes, except for the subway clock casing, which I executed with a palette knife to give it greater depth and enhance the effect of reflective surfaces — I still needed to finish the work by adding the hands and hour markers on the clock face.
At that point, I decided to have ChatGPT process an image of the painting itself, in order to obtain a suggestion for the inclusion of E.T. within the scene. I then created that element as well using a palette knife.
In this case too, artificial intelligence was used exclusively in the preliminary study phase, while the final artwork was entirely executed by hand..

The work will be exhibited at the upcoming exhibition “UNITED IN ART – 100 STAR” at Sparks Gallery in San Diego, California, on October 17, 2026.