ALESSANDRO SPREAFICO,  CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Born in Como, Italy, Alessandro Spreafico moved to New York in 2008 and currently lives and works in Brooklyn. He is the Co-founder and Creative Director of Contaminate NYC. Alessandro has worked as Director and Editor at Ogilvy&Mather for four years, producing audiovisual works and movies for clients such as eBay, Unilever, Chevrolet, BAT, Chiquita, Nestlé, Lactalis, San Pellegrino, Heineken, Kraft, Galbani, IBM, and Coca Cola. As a young and talented film director, he has received numerous prizes in Europe for his short documentaries on social and cultural issues. In addition to working at Contaminate NYC, Alessandro is the Co-founder and Executive Producer at Patch Production, a creative agency specializing in video production and post production, 3D modeling and animation, motion graphics, design, web-design, and photography. Alessandro holds a BA in Media Languages at the Catholic University of Milan, a Major in Film Science at the Freie Universitaet in Berlin, Germany and a NYU Certificate in Filmmaking at the Tisch School of Arts, New York.

ELENA AVESANI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Italian-born Elena Avesani moved to the States in 2001 and currently lives and works in NYC. She is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Contaminate NYC, LLC. Elena has worked as Product Manager at Oracle America for more than ten years specializing in designing and developing Supply Chain Management, Customer Relationship Management, and eCommerce software applications. In 2005, while continuing her work with Oracle, she moved from San Francisco to New York City to attend Columbia University’s Master in International and Public Affairs, graduating in 2007. In New York she rediscovered her passion for art and immersed herself in the city’s vibrant art scene, taking painting, piano, and singing classes. Through this experience she developed a strong belief that to stimulate innovation and creativity young and upcoming artists need to be empowered and supported outside the conventional channels. In 2008, she met Alessandro Spreafico and together they founded Contaminate NYC. Elena also holds a Master in Management and Business Engineering at the Politecnico of Milan, Italy. A seasoned multi-tasker, Elena passionately fulfills her duties at Contaminate NYC while also working as Strategy Manager at Oracle America focusing on Technology Solutions for Sustainability and Environmental Issues.

FRANCESCO AVESANI, CURATORIAL BOARD

Painting, Drawing and Printmaking Director, full-time faculty member since 1993 at the Accademia di Belle Arti “G.B.Cignaroli” of Verona, Italy, Francesco Avesani earned his diploma from the same academy in 1974. He began his career with oil painting, developing later a deep passion for drawing and printmaking. He considers drawing an independent type of language, a separate form of painting, as he has always thought of himself as a graphic artist. His subjects relate directly to his personal history. Through printmaking, he developed his own research on signs, and restored the graphic tradition. At the same time, he explored with great interest the exciting possibilities that this technique offers with the purpose of carving in the material the creative images of our times. Graphics become then his principal language of expression. His paintings, drawings and prints have been exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions in Verona, Barcelona, New York, Chicago and Geneva since 1975. Francesco acts as advisor and consultant for Contaminate NYC on artist selection and development.