Carnovsky is a Milan based art and design duo comprised of Francesco Rugi and Silvia Quintanilla.
Francesco is an art historian and Silvia is an industrial designer, so Carnovsky is actually
the result of these different backgrounds and biographies.

“Color est e pluribus unus” is one of their slogans for their art works.

In the poem “Moretum”, color est e pluribus unus describes the blending of colors into one.
And that’s what their RGB art is based on. They were attracted by the idea of metamorphosis, in particular we thought about Ovid’s Metamorphoses in which we found the idea of making history of the world as a series of things which transform into other things.
As they described in one of the interviews, their main illustration inspirations are frescos of XVII – XVIII centuries.

Carvonsky design is based on the concept of the “chromatic stimulus”.
“RGB designs create surfaces that mutate and interact with different chromatic stimulus.”
The “chromatic stimulus” is actually what is needed for the RGB images to change and reveal only one of the 3 layers. But in general terms, color, especially the primary colors, are the key to their work.

RGB Atmospherics
This exhibition is a set of panoramic sky scenes. It focused on the interpretation of the landscape and meteorological phenomena: atmosphere landscapes, architectonic and perspective landscapes, emotional landscapes, ephemeral landscapes, all in continuous movement. It’s placed on the concave canvas in order to create the feeling of being surrounded by the Atmospherics.

RGB Black
RGB Black is a new RGB series available for now in wallpaper and some limited edition prints. They follow the same RGB principles but the colors are inverted so the background is black instead of white and through the colored filters the images appear in negative. Some images are available in both versions, others just in one, it depends on the image, not all of them work in both.

RGB Trattoria.

7th – 17th May 2015, Maison Folie, Mons

In the large formerly industrial building which is part of the Maison Folie complex, Carnovsky’s installation spreads over 3 levels. On the central background wall a gigantic human figure (Vesalio n. 2) erects more than 9 meters high dominating the space and revealing from time to time, with the coloured lights, its muscles, skeleton and venous system.

During the ten days of the event, the space hosted a temporary restaurant, “Bistrot Folie”, which for the occasion presented a Milanese menu, whose tables were also set with placemats decorated with Carnovsky’s Animalia n.2.

“Illuminature“, 2017
This is an anatomy book for kids released in 2017. It was mainly inspired by ancient anatomical prints.
Aesthetically the idea was to have images that are correct, anatomically, but at the same time evocative, and not too scary because it’s a children’s book. Carnovsky played with dramatic cuts and angles, inspired by films or comic book framing techniques.

And here’s what Carnovsky duo has to say about their work:

List of sources:
1. Official Designers Website:
https://www.carnovsky.com/RGB.htm
2. Carnovsky Interview:
https://nowthenmagazine.com/articles/carnovsky-red-green-blue
3. Original of phrase “Color est e pluribus unus” in Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_pluribus_unum#:~:text=In%20the%20poem%20text%2C%20color,many)%2C%20in%20his%20Confessions.
4. RGB Atmospherics Review:
https://www.designboom.com/art/carnovsky-rgb-fabulous-landscapes/
5. RGB Black Interview:
https://www.we-heart.com/2011/08/10/la-selva-rgb-black-series-carnovsky/
6. RGB Trattoria Review:
https://www.designboom.com/art/carnovsky-rgb-trattoria-maison-folie-mons-06-02-2015/
7. Illuminature book Interview:
https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/illumanatomy-book-carnovsky-illustration-publication-161017
8. Carnovsky Interview with Alicja McCarthy:
https://fadmagazine.com/2010/12/09/carnovsky-interview-with-alicja-mccarthy/
9. Interview original:
https://vimeo.com/151659315
10. Slides design template:
Design by PresentationGO.com