Pietro Roccasalva

Pietro Roccasalva

Truka all-over (The Formula of the Phantom), 2010

two performers, silver-coated armor, acrylic, airbrushes, spray guns, photograph, platform

photograph:

47 1/4 x 106 1/4 inches

(120 x 270 cm)

platform:

47 1/4 x 106 1/4 inches

(120 x 270 cm)

Performance view, Johnen Galerie, Berlin, Germany

Pietro Roccasalva (b. 1970, Modica, Italy) is an Italian artist whose work ranges from  painting to photography and film. His artwork is inspired by modernism. Although he uses many modern elements in his works, his design skills include the feeling of retro elements, such as adding traditional painting methods such as sketches and oil paintings. This artistic technique adds to his extraordinary painting skills and makes the whole work look extraordinary. (“Pietro Roccasalva.” )

When Pietro Roccasalva held his first painting exhibition in the United States, we could see paintings, drawings, neon works and large-scale sculpture installations. This was a very grand exhibition. This exhibition fully reflected Pietro Roccasalva’s appreciation and creation of art on different objects. For example, scene art and art on paper. The biggest theme of this exhibition is the combination and communication between animate and inanimate objects. In his works, inanimate objects such as kitchen dishes and daily necessities look to be breathing with life, replacing those objects that should have life. Roccasalva’s art looks a little surreal, Even a little strange. But to accept the meaning behind these works through these factors, people will be surprised by the final thoughts the author wants to express.

Pietro Roccasalva: Il Trovatore, 2017 is a work created by the artist in 2017. When I first saw this painting, I felt a little depressed about the gloomy background and the overall monotonous color of the painting. But after careful observation, The concept and details of the painting expressed by this painting. The expressions on the faces of the characters and the details of their bodies and the author’s artistic concept of combining some inconsistent things together. No matter the clothes, the expressions of the characters and the objects in the hands really make people feel very delicate and real. However, although the theme is human, there is no sense of life in the characters, but the metal objects in the hands show a strong sense of luster. This reminds me of the exhibition mentioned in the previous stage, the transformation between animate objects and inanimate objects. This can not help but make people who have finished appreciating the painting wonder in their hearts, what is the appearance of life, and why what should have been alive has lost the appearance of being alive, this is worth thinking about.

Roccasalva, Pietro. “Pietro Roccasalva: Il Trovatore, 2017.” Art Basel, January 1, 1970.                 https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artwork/51472/Pietro-Roccasalva-Il-Traviatore. 

This painting From Just Married Machine, 2019 is also one of Pietro Roccasalva’s praiseworthy works. This painting is a horizontal work. There are not many colors on the painting to decorate the painting, but it is enough to make people feel amazing. Only the middle part of the painting is embellished with color, but this is the color that appears in the black and white painting, just like a beam of light illuminating a dark room, bringing people a kind of light and hope. The feeling of returning to the ruins. It makes people feel the effect of shaking the soul. There is a woman in the painting, holding a luminous object in her hand, as if to wake up the sleeping knight sitting here. This kind of mysterious and sacred behavior not only makes people reflect on what happened before this ruin, and what the girl’s purpose was. This kind of open-ended creativity gives everyone the answer they want.

Roccasalva, Pietro. “Pietro Roccasalva: From Just Married Machine, 2019.” Art Basel, January 1, 1970. https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artwork/81809/Pietro-Roccasalva-From-Just-Married-Machine. 

Pietro Roccasalva relies on his powerful painting skills to show his rich and wonderful artistic ideas, allowing people to share his world of thought while admiring his works. Traveling in the world he conceives, the impression he gets is also the motivation for people to continue to appreciate his art.

Pietro Roccasalva

The Skeleton Key III, 2007

soft pastel on paper on forex

74 1/2 x 57 3/4 inches

(189 x 147 cm)

Works Cited

“Pietro Roccasalva ‘The Strange Young Neighbours’ at David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles •.” Mousse Magazine, March 14, 2012. http://moussemagazine.it/pietro-roccasalva/. 

  “Pietro Roccasalva.” David Kordansky Gallery. Accessed November 15, 2020.          http://origin.www.davidkordanskygallery.com/artist/pietro-roccasalva.

Roccasalva, Pietro. “Pietro Roccasalva: From Just Married Machine, 2019.” Art Basel, January 1, 1970. https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artwork/81809/Pietro-Roccasalva-From-Just-Married-Machine. 

         Roccasalva, Pietro. “Pietro Roccasalva: Il Trovatore, 2017.” Art Basel, January 1, 1970.                 https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artwork/51472/Pietro-Roccasalva-Il-Traviatore.