PAINTING
ROBERT RICOV
(CROATIA / AUSTRALIA)
 
DETAILS
Giclée print on canvas
(1/9) Limited edition
Hand signed by the artist
60 x 76 cm
2018
 
DESCRIPTION
The figure stands there, half naked, skin exposed in golden light in front of a clouded black sky. The truth of him is revealed to any who would care to investigate. But he wears the mask of a liar—the famous Pinocchio’s wooden nose. Although it is not shaped like a key, it casts the shadow of a key against the figure’s chest, against his heart. The liar’s nose is not his own, but that of a mask’s. So does he wear it to hide the fact that he is truthful? Does that not make him a liar?
And is he not, therefore, lying about being a liar? But then how can he be truthful? Or is he merely showing that he is capable of admitting a lie? Is the mask, therefore, a confession of his eternal truth, the truth within his heart, and the shadow of a key eluding to the secret within—the secret he will take to the grave.
The keys on the golden plate are reserves—just in case the truth cannot be unlocked. Doves circle him, representing peace, freedom and love. But one dove lays dead on the plate—next to the keys, next to the fruit of original sin. And he holds their eggs in his right hand. One egg is broken. One egg is not.
 
BIOGRAPHY
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.