Pericoli, Matteo 1968–

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Pericoli, Matteo 1968–

Personal

Born 1968, in Milan, Italy; moved to New York, NY, 1995; son of Tullio Pericoli (an artist and cartoonist); married; wife's name Holly Dickstein (a flamenco dancer and co-director of a dance company). Education: Politecnico di Milano, graduated 1995 (architecture).

Addresses

Home—New York, NY. Agent—Tracy Fisher, William Morris Agency, 1325 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019.

Career

Architect, writer, teacher, and illustrator. Worked for Peter Eisenman, then Richard Meier & Partners (architects), New York, NY, c. 1995-99. Exhibitions: Drawing exhibited at New York Historical Society, New York University, New York Historical Society, and Municipal Art Society, New York, NY.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Manhattan Unfurled, essay by Paul Goldberger, Random House (New York, NY), 2001.

Manhattan Within, Random House (New York, NY), 2003.

See the City: The Journey of Manhattan Unfurled (for children; includes images from Manhattan Unfurled), Knopf (New York, NY), 2004.

The True Story of Stellina, Knopf (New York, NY), 2006.

Sidelights

Matteo Pericoli's love of drawing is only partially tapped in his work as a Manhattan architect. Pericoli "draws obsessively," Paul Goldberger maintained in a New Yorker essay, and this obsession has resulted in works of art that have been reproduced in book form as Manhattan Unfurled, Manhattan Within, and the children's version, See the City: The Journey of Manhattan Unfurled. Consisting of two works of art that, when unrolled, each measure thirty-seven feet in length, Manhattan Unfurled depicts the entire Manhattan skyline. Based on hundreds of photographs taken by Pericoli beginning in 1998, the drawings were completed in six-or seven-block increments, each section rolled away when it was done in order to expose the next blank expanse of paper. Eventually quitting his job with architect Richard Meier to complete the project, Pericoli "worked like the scribes who write Torah scrolls by hand," Goldberger explained of the architect's eighteen-month-long project: "he never erased, he never changed anything once he had done it, and he never looked back at his work after he finished a section." The West Side section of Manhattan Unfurled was first displayed in its entirety in an exhibit staged by New York University. Paired with Pericoli's East Side rendering, it was subsequently captured in book form: a 22-foot-long sheet of paper folded into two dozen panels to fit between its oversized covers. Manhattan Unfurled also holds a special significance as a memorial: because Pericoli created it prior to September 11, 2001, it contains the artist's renderings of the twin towers of the now-demolished World Trade Center.

Reviewing See the City for Publishers Weekly, a contributor noted that the design of the book is scaled down from Pericoli's original masterwork. The result, noted the critic, is a "meticulous, affectionate version" of Manhattan Unfurled that contains sections of the original alongside a narrative in which the artist's comments on his project. Comparing the book's detailed drawings to the work of author/illustrator David Macaulay, the Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded that "Pericoli dazzles with his style and conveys warm appreciation of that which seems ordinary," while in Kirkus Reviews a critic described the work as "marvelous" and inspiring. Noting that See the City will both likely appeal most to children familiar with New York City, Sally R. Dow dubbed the abridged version of Pericoli's masterwork "fascinating" in her review for School Library Journal.

[Image not available for copyright reasons]

Pericoli's detailed pen-and-ink images have found a home in children's publishing. In his first original picture book, The True Story of Stellina, the artist and author shares an experience from his own life in his tale about a city-dwelling finch that meets a happy fate after falling from its nest. Dropping onto the street and stranded in a busy intersection, the tiny bird sounds out a "cheep, cheep" that is heard by Pericoli's wife, Holly. Realizing that the bird cannot return to the safety of its nest, Holly brings the creature home to the couple's small apartment. Soon the bird has become part of the family: in addition to accompanying Holly to the dance studio where she practices, tiny Stellina keeps Pericoli company as he works on his drawings, ultimately becoming the subject of his art. Citing the "tender connection between pet and caregiver" that Pericoli captures in his melodic tale, School Library Journal contributor Julie R. Ranelli described The True Story of Stellina as "creative and informative." "Small readers will be utterly won over, and bigger ones will be enchanted," exclaimed Booklist contributor GraceAnne A. DeCandido of the work.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 1, 2006, GraceAnne A DeCandido, review of The True Story of Stellina, p. 49.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, April, 2006, Deborah Stevenson, review of The True Story of Stellina, p. 369.

Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2004, review of See the City: The Journey of Manhattan Unfurled, p. 635; January 1, 2006, review of The True Story of Stellina, p. 44.

New Yorker, December 13, 1999, Paul Goldberger, "A New York Architect Invents a New Kind of River View."

New York Times Book Review, December 16, 2001, Elizabeth Manus, review of Manhattan Unfurled, p. 19.

Publishers Weekly, September 22, 2003, Natalie Danford, "A Really Big Apple," p. 42; August 16, 2004, review of See the City, p. 63; March 21, 2006, review of The True Story of Stellina, p. 55.

School Library Journal, December, 2004, Sally R. Dow, review of See the City, p. 136; April, 2006, Julie R. Ranelli, review of The True Story of Stellina, p. 130.

USA Today, October 12, 2001, Deirdre Donahue, "NYC Skyline Unfolds on 22-Foot Piece of Paper."