PAINTING
ROBERT RICOV
 
DETAILS
Oil on canvas
61 x 76 cm
2024
 
DESCRIPTION
Potato Plucks Plumage is a remarkable oil painting by the Australian artist Robert Ricov. The work presents a striking and unsettling scene in which a cherub rests atop a protesting peacock. The bird cries out as the cherub forcibly plucks a feather from its resplendent tail.
Endowed with golden wings and the power of flight, the cherub mocks the peacock for lacking these abilities. This imbalance of power becomes central to the painting’s meaning. Though the peacock is celebrated for its magnificent plumage, the cherub reduces this beauty to mere ornamentation, something that may entice admiration, yet offers no true freedom or escape.
 
Through this interaction, Ricov subverts the traditional image of the cherub as a symbol of innocence and benevolence. Instead, the angelic figure emerges as a petty tyrant, taking pleasure in asserting dominance and exposing uncomfortable truths. The painting ultimately reflects on the cruelty that can accompany power, and the vulnerability hidden beneath even the most dazzling displays of beauty.
 
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 Guillermo Lorca and Martin Wittfooth mentored him.It wasn’t until a few months after that he realized how profoundly this experience affected the direction of his work.