He is a talent who has been creating unique sculptures using marble creatively since the age of 16 and has managed to give it very realistic textures such as paper, cardboard, truck tires and even polystyrene. He is the Italian Sculptor Fabio Viale! He is the guest of our magazine in this issue. Marble, despite its hardness, certainly cannot challenge the master sculptor Fabio. Knowing no boundaries in his art, Viale approaches marble with the awareness of finding possibilities and shows this clearly with his floating boat called “Aghalla” made of marble. Fabio says. “This sculpture was such an important experiment for me since it allowed me to show that marble can float. But above all it made us go beyond the biases that material imposes on us.” He also reinterprets classical sculptures from a different perspective, giving them a new identity. When we asked him about the sculptor who influenced him with his works in classical art, his answer was “Bernini! “His mastery is definitely hard to reach.”
His teacher discovered his talent
Fabio is the illusionist artist of material, who can transform marble into polystyrene, paper, rubber into plastic. The person who discovers his talent was an art teacher in high school. Fabio describes that moment as follows: “Everything happened so fast. When I was in high school, my art teacher noticed something in my hands because I could sculpt clay even though I had never done it before. One day he brought me in front of a dark stone and said, “Fabio, now work on this little marble block.” I took hammer and chisel, and suddenly saw a shiny white piece of marble come out. I think at that moment I decided to become a sculptor.”
The key to everything: Marble
Marble is a material full of energy for Fabio, a source of energy for him. That is why he works with marble, which he calls ‘the key to everything’, in his works. He prefers white Carrara marble of different types. He says: “I choose my own material from the quarry myself. Selection of marble blocks is a fundamental step; Quarry and material information should be analytical. Each quarry is specific not only in color of the marble, but also in the vein structure, compactness, gloss, and imperfections. Every sculpture I make has a precise type of marble that I chose by going straight to the quarry in Carrara. Sculpture can radiate energy; it is a form of magic. You know that the sculpture is complete when you cannot increase its light further. I don’t know about Turkish marble, but I’m starting a design project with my wife that will allow me to explore the properties of many other materials.”
Glorifying the potential of the material
Fabio said: “I aim to honor the formal properties of the stone and the conceptual and figurative properties of the human imagination in my works. I try to elevate the potential of the material by combining it with different kinds of things or hiding certain functions and qualities, always adapting it to the imagination. Attraction and pleasure, surprise and curiosity, association and hypocrisy, are valid values.”
He adds new identity to ancient sculptures
Italian Sculptor Fabio reproduces exact copies of original classical sculptures and presents them with an unusual application. By injecting the ink into the marble, he applies the tattooing process to the stone, just as it is to the skin, and decorates classical sculptures inspired by the “criminal” patterns created by the Russian gangs and the Japanese Yakuza. While bringing an up-to-date interpretation to the classical, it also paves the way for a new perspective on the familiar. Saying that he decided to use the criminal tattoo on his sculptures the day he met a Russian with interesting tattoos on his hands, Fabio said, “My aim is to bring a dual identity to life: to tattoo masterpieces inspired by ancient art, to give them a new life and at the same time to create a collective imagination. Today, tattoos can be considered a dress that anyone can wear, even in ancient statues! Changing the life of ancient sculptures builds a temporal bridge to universal beauty. Each work of art has a different story to tell and tattooing literally enriches the power of my sculptures.”
+90 532 585 51 95
+90 532 585 51 95