Elisabetta Cipriani is honoured to present the first wearable art project by the celebrated Venetian born artist Giorgio Andreotta Caló. Icarus is an extraordinary neck sculpture where the wearer experience the power of metamorphosis through the timeless themes of freedom, transformation, life, and the oniric (dreamlike) realm.
This captivating work is inspired by Icarus, Calo’s ongoing project from 2020. In Icarus, the artist took inspiration from the Greek myth of Icarus, the audacious figure who flew too close to the sun, seeking liberation from the constraints of earthly existence. As in Icarus, in this project, Caló reimagines the myth, infusing it with contemporary relevance and his reinterpretation becomes a vehicle aimed to explore the human desire of development and growth. Caló invites viewers to contemplate the dual nature of freedom — both its attractions and its risks. The myth of Icarus serves as a cautionary tale, reminding us of the consequences of uncontrolled ambitions and the delicate balance between liberation and limitation, metamorphosis and personal evolution.
Icarus (neck sculpture) consists in a twig cast in gold-plated brass and a cocoon of Argema Mimosae, a species of moth, cast in silver. The work is one of a kind. The hyper- realistically work, recalls the colouring of the insect’s envelope, recognizable precisely by its brown – silvery color as well as the naturalistic twig that embrace the neck of the wearer. Once a living sculpture, it is now a still life that marked the moment of birth and freedom, hence a metamorphosis blurring the line between reality and imagination.
The artist created a real immersive wearable work of art that acts as a bridge between art and life, allowing the wearer to become an active participant experiencing first- hand the emotions of flight, liberation and the ephemeral nature of existence. Its lasting physical presence will always provoke introspection and dialogue about the fundamental human need for freedom, the transformative power of art, and the ever- elusive quest for self-discovery.
About Giorgio Andreotta Caló
Born in Venice in 1979, Giorgio Andreotta Calò lives between Amsterdam and Venice. He studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia (1999-2005) and continued his studies at the Kunst Hoch Schule Berlin (2003-2004). From 2001 to 2003, and also in 2007, he was assistant to Ilya and Emilia Kabakov. He has been the artist in residence at the Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam (2009-2011).
