The anthological exhibition Underwords presents a wide selection of more than 60 original illustrations by Serena Riglietti, showcasing her visual interpretation of classics such as The Wizard of Oz, The Little Mermaid and The Nutcracker, as well as texts such as Roberto Piumini’s Il ragazzo di fuoco and Rosaspina, or Susan Cooper’s The Magician’s Boy.
Serena Riglietti’s “preference for oblique perspective, typical of dreams, the sense of precarious balance resulting from unruly objects, the foreboding storms announced in anticipations by gusts of wind, are all characteristics of a bizarre universe maintained in a continuous state of metamorphosis and at the mercy of invisible forces. For Serena worlds of nightfall and of dreams are in perpetual contact and, when reason relinquishes its place to the magical powers of dreams, the places where we find ourselves are those where everything is possible” (Umberto Palestini).
Born in Pavia, Serena Riglietti lives and works in Pesaro. She has been illustrating children’s books since 1994 and has achieved international fame working for major Italian and foreign publishers, including Simon & Schuster in the United States. Her covers and illustrations for the first Italian editions of all the Harry Potter saga books, published by Salani between 1998 and 2008, are particularly famous.
Serena Riglietti is now Art Director for the series “Le guide di CodyTrip” (Giunti Editore, Florence), travel guides with cultural and tourist content aimed at elementary and middle school children: rich and colorful pages bring to life the stages of virtual sightseeing trips, along with trivia, tips, games to play on the spot and on the guide itself, coding challenges and in-depth information.
Her works have been exhibited on several occasions at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and in various solo and group shows in Italy and abroad. In 2007 the Skira publishing house dedicated to her the monographic volume Harry Potter & Co. Società di magia a responsabilità illimitata. Since 2005 she has been teaching illustration at the Academy of Fine Arts in Urbino.
