Bocs

Artists Residence curated by Alberto Dambruoso

2015, Cosenza I was invited to participate in the first Bocs Art residency by Alberto Dambrouso. As a painter and artist from Calabria, the invitation touched me deeply, and this was the first time I had ever participated in a residency. I immediately started thinking about the work that I could do in that particular region which, due to force majeure, I had abandoned in 1996 with my childhood friend Gabriele Talarico. Like me, he wanted to follow his dream: Il Sogno dell’Arte. Whilst I was looking for information to inspire me, I stumbled across the mystery of the Talaric’s Treasure. An idea!!! When I arrived in Cosenza, I prepare a canvas of 1.75 x 2.35 meters in size and the internal glass support of Bocs, who were hosting me. This paid homage to the Opera “Las Meninas” by the great Maestro Velàsquez. Then, taking my underwater camera, I began photographing the depths of the Crati and Busento rivers, walking up the river on foot, as though I were seeking the Treasury of Alaric. As I did this, I relate what I was doing to the passers-by I met. They were intrigued, amazed and amused (they poked fun at me and I enjoyed that too because I think that if there is no game, there is no art!). From the photographic material I collected, I began to structure the canvas composition with oil painting. By chance, at that time, my friend Gabriele Talarico was staying in Calabria. I called him and given the Italian saying “He who finds a friend – finds a treasure,” I asked him if he could create a treasure and bring it to Cosenza. At the same time, I also met up with my friend Diego Mazzei, who, having been hired to photographically document the activities of the artists at Bocs. I ask if he would document the arrival of Gabriele Talarico, bringing me his Treasure: a piece of Belgian Black Marble 18 × 18 cm, on which he had engraved his shape. Miraculously, I finished the painting in time for the arrival of the Treasure. Diego managed to photograph everything and from that moment the Work recounting the story: Talaric’s Treasure.

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