Roberto Cuoghi | a.C

Roberto Cuoghi’s multifaceted and unpredictable production is marked by a spirit of invention, including the choice of unusual materials and the use of complex techniques that seem to evoke the lost wisdom of ancient alchemists. His works often suggest time travel, as in the case of the sculpture depicting the Assyrian demon Pazuzu (Room 12).
Never exhibited before, the a.C. photographic series concerns sculptural works and experiments of decay made in the artist’s studio in Milan for Imitatio Christi, the project he developed for his participation in the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2017. On that occasion, Cuoghi transformed the space into a large nighttime factory producing sculptures portraying Jesus Christ. The production was made using unstable organic compounds and unprecedented processes of transformation and potential destruction.

The a.C. series fixes in time the very first experiments related to this project, prototypes that were particularly ephemeral. Also experimenting with photography, the artist reworked each print in the series by hand using graphite, colored pencil and flocking, a technique that gives a velvety effect to few chosen details.
Thanks to a gift from the artist, a group of fragments related to Imitatio Christi belongs to the CRRI – Castello di Rivoli Research Center (on view at the Library, Manica Lunga).

a.C. entered the Collection in 2024 and is exhibited to the public for the first time.

The project is supported by Strategia Fotografia 2024 promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture