Exhibart talks about this evening, August 1st, Filippo Tincolini, in collaboration with Liquid Art System, is hosting an exhibition event in Capri, during which he will unveil "Spaceman", a standing astronaut with arms at his sides. This piece, emblematic of humanity's insatiable desire to cross the thresholds of the cosmic unknown, merges with the inescapable call of our earthly origins.
The works of Filippo Tincolini thrive on the meeting between aesthetic care, respecting the canons of classical sculpture and the millennia-old traditions of Carrara workshops, and the awe before something “other than us” that, coming towards us, questions and challenges us, offering a possible way out of the labyrinth of life.
In Spaceman—an artwork that perfectly embodies Tincolini's artistic vision, where he tells us "of a society that is suffocated and crushed but also of its determination and struggles"—leaves and flowers emerge from the surface, revealing a vitality that transcends the boundaries of the technological fabric of the spacesuit. It’s a reminder not to lose sight of our essence as we project ourselves into the abstract dimensions of space exploration, a powerful metaphor of the interdependence between human aspiration and environmental roots.
In an era of unprecedented technological progress, can we truly consider ourselves separate from the natural world that gave us life? Art becomes not only a reflection but also a testimony to the necessity of balance between looking towards the stars and keeping our feet firmly planted on the earth that sustains us. It is the earth that is our homeland, the artist seems to tell us, we are inhabitants of the Earth, and we must start being so genuinely: "Each of us has our own genealogy and our own terrestrial identity card. Each of us comes from the Earth, is of the Earth, is on the Earth. We belong to the Earth that belongs to us." Marble is Filippo Tincolini's preferred material: "I think of marble as a silent witness to human history,” says the artist. “It has seen life and death, known the triumphs and falls of great powers. It has felt the pain and fear of those who faced its resistance. It is part of this earth, and when I work with it, I feel its heart beating next to mine. Marble is the starting point, the beginning of a profound dialogue between my creativity and the strength of nature."
All of Filippo Tincolini's works are made of marble, but Spaceman also becomes “Spaceman Shine”. The astronaut, an emblem of pop culture and a synthesis of technological progress and sci-fi adventures, is represented not only with pure marble but also through resins, fluorescent colors (Yellow, Light Blue, Fuchsia, ...), and a “shine” aura. The choice to not work with marble and to use fluorescent paint is deliberate: the astronaut, transfigured in these new forms, becomes a vibrant emblem of pop culture. This sculpture, through its medium and aesthetics, speaks the language of the current era, a time defined by visual immediacy. The fluorescent color not only captures the eye but also invokes the dynamism and energy of contemporary culture, reflecting the way technology illuminates and sometimes overwhelms our natural world.
The fluorescent paint that coats “Spaceman Shine” serves not only to highlight and bring vitality to the work; it is also a reference to starlight, the luminous signals that traverse the cosmos, and the ephemeral nature of fame itself. In this sense, “Spaceman Shine” emerges as a work that, while retaining the themes of the series—the relationship between the human and the natural, exploration, and discovery—seeks new dimensions of meaning, boldly inserting itself into the cultural dialogue of contemporary art.