PAINTING
ROBERT RICOV
 
DETAILS
Giclée print on canvas
(1/9) Limited editionç
Hand signed by the artist
61 x 76 cm
2024
 
DESCRIPTION
Ricov explains that the painting shows a lavish table set with cheeses, fruits, meats, and sweets laid over rich blue and white fabrics, a feast meant for both eye and appetite. Yet the invited guests, society’s elite, never arrive, their excuses arriving instead as rumors quickly destroy the host’s reputation. Enraged, the master of the house pulls the tablecloth, sending the feast to the floor before leaving the room.
 
The food does not go to waste. The spirits of the house gather in his absence, drinking wine and sharing their sorrows at what Ricov calls a “table of torment.” The host, a hunter, is represented by the ghosts of taxidermy trophies descending upon the meal. A monkey injects poison into a hairless cat, while the cat mourns alongside a hairless mouse, former enemies united by shared suffering. Above it all, an angry cherub looks on, upset by the waste of food.
 
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.