Michelangelo would be shocked. Then again, maybe not. Fabio Viale is a contemporary Italian sculptor who wants to have fun changing our perception of marble as a dense, cold, and inert medium traditionally associated with classical statuary, Michelangelo’s David being a case in point. In 2002, Viale sculpted a boat made out of marble. A marble boat? It not only floated but when an outboard motor was added, it also carried people. Since then, he has created marble artworks that look like rubber, wood and styrofoam. And now, copying the classical statuary he wants to make fun of, tattooed skin.
Take for instance the classical Greek icon Laocoon And His Sons, believed to have originated between 200BC and 70AD. Viale sculpted a copy, also in marble, removed the sons and added a full-body tattoo. It references the seven deadly sins in Dante’s Inferno. “It’s a meeting of life and death, between the sacred and the profane,” he says about his replica. Vaile worked with chemists to determine a pigment that would penetrate the stone (marble is reasonably porous) and give it the appearance of a normal tattoo.
“I realized it was very important not to paint it but to make the colour penetrate,” says the artist. “Only in this way could I reach the effect of the tattoo on human skin in the most realistic way.”
Viale has chosen his tattoos carefully. They refer to mankind’s failings, the underworld and the criminal element, a perfect foil, he says, to the idealistic perfection of western classical forms. His original sculpture called Door Release pulls no punches. It features a Russian gang tattoo.
His Venus Italica, a copy of the original commissioned in 1819 by Napoleon Bonaparte, sports a Japanese irezumi design which both disturbs and entertains. Irezumi designs are often favoured by the Yakuza.
The back of his Venus de Milo is ablaze in colour, giving her a much different personality than what we’re familiar with. His Venus is less austere and more playful. Vaile has managed to stir the pot, making us take a second look at these famous forms. Thanks to his choice of tattoos and the manner in which he’s skillfully applied them we’re left to wonder what determines a beautiful piece and what doesn’t.
