Watching the artistic creations of FabioTaramasco is a sensual pleasure. Immediately you are struck by the comic idea of the work and the skills of its realization. Then you smile with the title. And finally you may understand in depth the meaning and conceptual links.
Fabio Taramasco defines himself as a "pop-conceptual" artist and in these words we understand the love of irony and satire and the desire to reach the general public by being understandable to all.
We meet his latest artistic creation "Arbanelle, sardines in oil," almost a construction: ceramic sardines in oil in a series of glass jars that recall the Mediterranean tradition of his land.
Fabio Taramasco, what inspired you to create this collection of sardines?
It all started from my studies of the past and from Churchill's phrase "the past must be preserved for the future". In my work as a restorer I am driven by the idea that history is part of the present, and so I started to interpret the objects of family history.
Keeping food in oil is part of the traditions of all Italian families, we are on the Ligurian coast, and we bring to home produce of the sea preserving it in fish oil.
It is an assembly in some respects fun, laughing at the audience, what should it arouse in the viewer?
I like to create works that people have the pleasure of owning and looking at, and I like to get in touch with people who understand the work. I would like to give a smile to people.
Sometimes it is risky: the refinement is essential to achieve a real irony. The elegance must be intrinsic to the creation not to slip into vulgarity, while maintaining a certain level of satire.
Even the use of colour is important. The bright colors and contrasts contribute to wellness and exercise a sort of "colour therapy" on those who observe them.
Why the sardines?
The sea is part of my language and I have often tried to represent its energy. The sea is a living being that encloses within its own world: the fish and much more.
Sardines in oil are the evolution of a previous exhibition devoted to fish of the Mediterranean, the "Mute speaking", in which I had created the paintings of fish using different materials (wood, metal and ceramic) combining the visual language with that text. And the sardine knows its fate, so it stares sardonically at its ultimate destiny, to feed its audience.
The testing, in-depth investigation of a theme, is part of my art history just like the sea is part of my personal history.
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