Italian Disco Visual Stories: The Work of Luciano Tallarini

An overview of the work of the art director of some of Italy’s most notable albums

Italian music exists in synergy with visual culture, as the most prominent artists always crafted a very distinct visual identity for themselves. And while costume designers, set designers, and TV show or music-video directors largely contributed to this component, we cannot understate the importance of photographers, animators, illustrators, and art directors.

Luciano Tallarini, a frequent artistic partner of photographer Mauro Balletti, has defined the visual language of the Italian recording industry for more than five decades. He achieved a type of aesthetic that combined minimalism with theatricality, where artistic rigor went hand in hand with conceptual subversion.

He was a well-rounded humanist: after obtaining an arts-focused high-school diploma, he started connecting with the cultural and artistic circles of Milan. He worked at a printing press and as a graphic designer for the music-themed magazine “Musica e Dischi,” and he also moonlighted as a journalist. He first made con…