Drago (publisher)


Drago is an independent international publishing house of contemporary art based in Rome, Italy. The company specialises in street and urban art and has published the works of street photographers, street artists and graffiti writers from around the world. It is frequently involved in exhibitions of contemporary art and acts as the official publisher for various galleries, museums and institutions.

Overview

Drago was founded in 2001 by Paulo Lucas von Vacano as publisher, following years working as an Italian-German journalist and president of the Castelvecchi Publishing Company, Posse of Antonio Negri and Aspenia Magazine of The Aspen Institute. He was joined by Domitilla Sartogo as executive director and Nicola Veccia Scavalli as art director.
In the same year, the company published its first book, Brice Marden's Brice Marden: Opere Su Carta 1964-2001 which was followed by the publication of Ed Templeton's The Golden Age of Neglect in 2002. As well as selling out quickly, this title became the professional skateboarder's best-known book.
In 2002 Drago organized the Via Crucis by Andres Serrano, an exhibition, curated by Marianna Vecellio and Angela Dorazio in the converted church Santa Marta al Collegio Romano in Rome.
In 2003 Drago took part to “Now Underground”, an international exhibition curated by Cecilia Nesbit and for which Drago published its catalogue.
In 2005 DRAGO releases La Transavangardia Italiana, a book on the Italian Neo-expressionism by Achille Bonito Oliva, with artists Mimmo Paladino, Francesco Clemente, Sandro Chia, Enzo Cucchi, Nicola De Maria and directs and produces the exhibition Kennedy: The Family, Values and History at the Temple of Hadrian in Rome.
In 2007 Drago curates and organizes Jeremy Fish’s exhibition Rome-Antic Delusions with artworks especially created by the artist in Rome for the exhibition. Its homonymous catalogue soon became a cult object.
In 2007 Drago published Muerte, the first book on Mike Giant. The book was one of Amazon’s best sellers for several seasons.
During the years Drago has published several best seller as Young Sleek and Full of Hell by Aaron Rose.
More recently, Drago's books have included Miss Van's Wild at Heart; Estevan Oriol's LA Woman and Boogie's Ah Wah do Dem, a book that received a score of 9.6/10 in a recent Street Hunters review. Among other notable books is Letizia Battaglia’s Anthology, which has been mentioned on CNN, BBC News, The Wall Street Journal and The Daily Beast.
Drago has worked alongside many exhibitors of contemporary art. As the publisher of The French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici, it has been in charge of all publications for exhibitions and artists-in-residence and published many books with its director and art historian, Eric de Chassey.
Amongst the publications for The French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici is the famous Europunk, The Visual Culture of Punk in Europe, 1976-1980, the first anthology of its kind documenting punk subculture. In 2011 Drago realized From Style Writing to Art – a Street Art Anthology with the French curator Magda Danysz.
In 2012 Drago published The Wrinkles of the City Shanghai
and The Wrinkles of the City Los Angeles by the artist JR.
In 2013 Drago realized LA Portraits, the second project with the photographer Estevan Oriol.
Elsewhere, the company has collaborated with the Outdoor Festival in Rome to produce a five-year catalogue of their exhibitions and the Dorothy Circus Gallery in Rome to create a trilogy of books documenting over three years of exhibitions dedicated to the Lowbrow art movement and Hello Here I Am, the first anthology of the Japanese artist Kazuki Takamatsu.
Among other clients are Nike, The L'Orèal Group, Danesi, The City of Rome, 55DSL, Alcatel and Bulgari.
Drago's most recent project has been an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome. Curated by Paulo Lucas von Vacano and Christian Omodeo, Cross the Streets recounts 40 years of street art and graffiti writing in Rome and beyond. It hosts 200 artworks from a number of artists ranging from Shepard Fairey to DAIM including some that came to the museum specifically to produce artwork for the exhibition.
In 2018 Drago gave birth to This Is Los Angeles by Estevan Oriol and Art From the Streets, the catalogue of French gallerist Magda Danysz’s homonymous exhibition.
During the 58th Art Biennale – 2019 – Venice, titled “May You Live in Interesting Times”, DRAGO brings to life to the Bahrain Pavilion, with the exhibition “The Wait: Contemporary Artists from Bahrain”.
In 2019 Drago published Crash Kid, A Hip Hop Legacy and in 2020 Crossroads, a Glimpse into the Life of Alice Pasquini, the first anthology of the worldwide renown Street Artist Alicè, who has been elected artist of the year by Rai Radio Tre.
Drago has published 112 titles, of which 12 have sold out.

Paulo von Vacano

Paulo Lucas von Vacano is an Italian-German publisher based in Rome who founded Drago in 2002. A former journalist, he contributed to several international magazines and newspapers. He then served as president of the Castelvecchi Publishing Company where he produced 500 books and several magazines, including Toni Negri’s Posse and Aspenia Magazine.
As founder of Drago Publishing, he has curated several exhibitions, including “Cross The Streets” at the MACRO in 2017, which exhibited artists such as Shepard Fairey aka Obey the Giant, Estevan Oriol, Invader, Evol, Boogie, WK Interact, Lee Quinones, and Fab 5 Freddy.
Other exhibitions he has curated include "Angel of Decay" by Ed Templeton, "Via Crucis" by the artist Andrès Serrano "Kennedy: the family, values, history", the biggest European exhibition on the Kennedy family at the Temple of Hadrian.
Since 2014 Paulo Lucas von Vacano has been a share-holder of the Audaces Foundation, an international non-profit organization that provides educational platforms and on-site interventions to provide innovative solutions to global societal and environmental challenges.

Domitilla Sartogo

Domitilla Sartogo graduated with a BA in Fine Arts from the Cooper Union School of Art, New York. She has been the executive director of Drago since 2004. She previously worked as a graphic designer for the Richard Avedon Studio, as a talent scout and director of photography for Fabrica, the Benetton Group Center of Communications, as a professor of editorial design at the Parsons School of Design and as communications director for Borbonese, an Italian fashion brand where she also curated its fashion shows. She has acted as the executive director of the Florence Biennale of Fashion and Cinema, with seven exhibitions focusing on the relationship between film and fashion that brought together set, costume, and fashion designers from around the world.

Selected books

2007: 36 Chambers. Inspired by the film The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, the series features 17 books from a diverse range of contemporary artists including Nick Walker, Mike Giant and Ivory Serra. For many of these artists, including Nick Walker, their contribution to the series was their first ever book.

Exhibitions

Drago exhibitions