Fabio Viale’s tattooed sculptured evoke old and new worlds, and draws our mind in…
You Won’t Believe How Good These Sculptures Looked Once This Guy Tattoos Them
Did you know that most of the ancient statues we see nowadays in museums and galleries are actually copies? Masterful and often still ancient copies, sure, but it is important to remember this when opening dialogues around sculptures today. Specifically, copies and reinterpretations. The history of art, and sculpture, in particular, is way more complex than fields solidly protected by copyrights.
However, I don’t want to bore you too much with ancient stories…sort of.
Fabio Viale is a sculptor born in Cuneo, Italy. He trained in the arts in — the majestic city of — Turin, where he now lives and creates. From a young age, he was drawn to ancient art and one specific, versatile material: marble.
Marble has been long used in art because of its beauty, strength, and almost-divine look. This makes the addition of “ink” to them quite the holy/profane conversation. Additionally, the tattoos work in multiple ways: transforming the sculptures from copies to reinterpretation, creating a dialogue with other cultures, and mostly, drawing the agency of the audience in.
…the talent and masterfulness still hold him tight in the masters’ ensemble.
See, once the sculptures are tattooed, but also posited in modern spaces (new galleries, center of cities), the role adept at giving importance and meaning to the statues lay with us. With our eyes, and minds working to create associations, find correct (if we think there should be correct…) interpretations.
Fabio was indeed more than a rising star in the world of sculpture way before he started tattooing his pieces. In fact, he famously created mind-bending pieces and objects with marble: a Mona Lisa of “styrofoam”, and the infamous marble boat “ahgalla”.
But tattoos are something both known and loved in popular culture, and I appreciate the well thought use and connection with the sculpture. Sure, they may place Viale in a collective category as a pop or street artist, but the talent and masterfulness still hold him tight in the masters’ ensemble.
If you’d like yo read more about him, here is a little resource list:
These are amazing! I'm way too tactile to visit sculptures in museums, I just itch to touch them. Marble, to me, is like soapstone (though probably a cooler stone - to the touch, I'm actually more fond of soapstone). The smoothness of the stone is *made* for touching, not just looking at. Try that in an aet gallery though...lol