Cybernetic Existentialism & Ruffo Caselli
Italian artist Ruffo Caselli, one of the world's leading interpreters of the changes that have taken place in our lifetime, paints canvasses representing elegant figures dotted with little squares respresenting sensors and microchips.
Since the late '50s, he has linked his themes to contemporary technology and a mutant humanity searching for answers in a technological universe. From transistors to semiconductors and bar codes, he paints with oils on canvasses where even the space between people is populated by mysterious, omnipotent chips.
The idea behind the art of Ruffo Caselli, is that of a progressive mutation of our way of thinking: all aspects of our existence, personal relations, communication, work and play are intertwined with technology. "Technology imitates life, chips are us" - says the 77 years old artist, who incorporates the insights of scientific and technological research with his own artistic expression, in a process that goes back ever since he can remember.
In his works of decades ago, the figure, sort of elegant computer/man hybrid, has a silicon heart, for resonance with the technologic universe that surrounds him.
His list of applications is limitless, from transgenic plants to the genetic modifications of animals. In the 80s, for example, he was playing with metaphors of neuroscience, artificial intelligence and phenomenology.
The Artist is considered the father of Cybernetic Existentialism: the title appeared, for the first time, at Spazio Italia gallery in Soho, New York, in the ‘90s, where his paintings drew praise from the most discriminating collectors.
His art has evolved in tandem with technology in a journey that started with the invention of integrated circuits at the end of the 50s, moved through bar codes and on to the microchips of today. He endows these microchips with the capacity to adapt to the ever-changing needs of man and his psyche.
The power of the message is softened by the inclusion of relaxed and ageless figures in an almost theatrical composition that sometimes brings to mind the great heroes of the classics or the chorus of a Greek tragedy.
He paints instinctively. And whether he fills his canvasses with disappointment or enthusiasm, they are all an affirmation of freedom.
Ruffo’s work has a relevance that transcends his time: he introduces the viewer with existential paradox that often escapes systematic reason, like the cybernetic dissolution of boundaries between humans and technology.
Born in Florence, he spent most of his life in Milan, always in contact with intellectuals and artists, including Lucio Fontana. At the end of the 50’s, while Lucio Fontana began to puncture and cut his canvasses, Ruffo started to paint, or even glue or saw sensors and integrated circuits, formulating his theory of art as the interpreter of communication of modern-day communication.
Ruffo Caselli’s paintings were shown in over 120 important exhibits in Italy and in the United States. He has received numerous awards for excellence in Art. Today, his work is treasured by international collectors of fine art.
He now lives and works in Ovada, a small town in Piedmont, Italy.
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