Daniel Boccato - fly like an eagle

About

RIBOT gallery is pleased to present fly like an eagle, curated by Domenico de Chirico, the first solo show in Italy of the artist Daniel Boccato (Campinas, Brazil, 1991; he lives and works in New York). A selection of recent wall sculptures from the series “Wall Works”, specifically made for this show, shall be presented.

Inspired by two complementary universes, the flora and fauna, these forms with Symbolist echoes, influenced by logos, flags, image libraries and devoid of details, emerge from the walls of the gallery taking, on the first floor, the aspect of proud birds of prey and, on the lower floor, those of trees of different species. Sharp outlined silhouettes which, through the use of vectorial rendering digitally developed by the artist, space Pop Art to Minimal Art references. 

These chameleon-like works perfectly mimic the color and texture of the gallery walls. Even if these works protrude by a few centimeters from the walls, they  still come across as being a part of the setting and contribute to the creation of a very special atmosphere. Boccato conceives the “Wall Works” as contemporary bas-reliefs, deprived of any purely figurative value in order to concentrate exclusively on the form and on the relationship that they generate with the environment.

Notwithstanding the digital planning of the silhouettes, the works are later shaped by a laser wood cutter, so they maintain all the distinctive features of a “unique piece” because, even though they can be reproduced on any walls, they must have the exact colour and particular characteristics of the walls hosting them and so, as a result, they are always different and never repetitive.

fly like an eagle transforms the neutral space of the gallery into a metaphysical atmosphere, an apparently mute space that is then animated by the presence of the viewers who, when entering a room populated by these forms, spark off a subjective, emotive, and spiritual relationship with them.

Daniel Boccato (Campinas, Brazil, 1991; he lives and works in New York) studied at the Cooper Union School of Art in 2013. He has held solo and group shows in such private and public galleries as Corrugate Contemporary, Columbus, 2018; Tabacalera, Madrid, 2018; Musée et Jardins Van Buuren, Brussels, 2018; Sorry We’re Closed, Brussels, 2017; The Journal Gallery, New York, 2017-2016.