Gorizia 1988

Lives in Milan

The work of Valerio Nicolai questions the limits of the pictorial composition and expands it beyond the canvas, incorporating reality and bringing it back to the audience completely transformed. The artist’s introduction of elements in unexpected contexts follows a form of poetics that is guided by imagination and free associations, triggering contrasts and fantastic revelations.

Capitan Fragolone (Captain Strawberry, 2020) is a papier-maché sculpture of a giant fruit with small openings from which visitors, during the opening days of the show, can observe a pirate – impersonated by a performer wearing make-up and dressed with the clothes of the time – sitting in the interior of a ship. The performance leaves behind a setting that continues to be visible throughout the duration of the exhibition. The sculpture works as a matryoshka, in which unexpected worlds merge into one another, activating the effect of Chinese boxes that the visitor is caIled to open.