PAINTING
ROBERT RICOV
(CROATIA / AUSTRALIA)
 
DETAILS
Oil on canvas
200 x 300 cm
2024
 
DESCRIPTION
My paintings live in an alternate version of Earth, a parallel dimension, a reflection of our world. Germany and the United States were allied during the Second World War. An uneasy alliance that formed an empire which would rule the world until its demise at the ending of the Fourth World War. In this world military might is celebrated above all else. It is not actors nor musicians who are celebrated, but rather, Generals, Captains, Lieutenants as the only celebrities, made all the more famous for their cunning and cruelty.
In this parallel dimension the Earth possesses far less land mass than does our own world. This makes the ownership of land a purely governmental affair. Land, or better put, territory, is the most precious resource, the only thing worth fighting for, the eternal reason to war, the best and greatest excuse to run the never-ending money machine. The bulk of battles, therefore, take place in the seas and skies. Zeppelins fill the heavens. These mechanical monstrosities have been fused with living tissue—genetically engineered octopus tentacles capable of snatching planes from the skis and scraping the ground as they fly above. Very few things are now left in their original state; almost everything is the product of genetic engineering or some manner of alteration. In this world life is antagonistic to the natural state.
In this blending of ideologies what has liberty become? What is it now? What of the ideals of the Reich? Where do their boundaries bleed into the ideology of Democracy when Democracy itself has caused so much blood? In the end was there ever any difference? The larger meaning of this painting is tied up in how all the characters relate to each other to show that no matter what a society’s ideology—good or bad—it cannot and will not last. Everything has an ending. All things rot. Everything is wrong, and those who are right, are only right by might.
 
BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST
Robert Ricov b. 1973 Sydney, Australia BA 1994, College of Visual Arts, Sydney Robert Ricov has been living, working, and exhibiting in Croatia since he moved there in 2022. His oil paintings, in a style he refers to as “surreal maximalist realism,” use symbolism to represent themes such as the loss of innocence, betrayal, and hope. In October of 2023, Robert traveled to the island of Menorca, Spain, where he was mentored by Guillermo Lorca and Martin Wittfooth. It wasn’t until a few months after that he realized how profoundly this experience affected the direction of his work. After Robert became finalist in the Toolip Art Contest in Budapest in 2024, he is represented exclusively by the Toolip Art Gallery.