PAINTING
ROBERT RICOV 
 
DETAILS
Oil on canvas
76 x 100 cm
2021
 
DESCRIPTION
This was his first painting created during the pandemic, born directly from the experience of being confined for months inside his small apartment in Sydney. The infant seated on the floor symbolizes the innocence of humanity. The child is offered a cure, represented by a radiant light shining from within a syringe.
 
Hovering above the infant is a flying figure rendered in rich gold. This figure represents the medical establishment, though it is deliberately disguised as innocent and benevolent. In one hand, the figure offers the glowing syringe, but in the other it holds a rotting syringe, an image reflecting the idea that “with one hand he giveth, and with the other he taketh away.”
 
The decaying elixir from the rotting syringe is fed to a clown, a symbol of the media and other institutions, as well as the absurdity and foolishness that unfolded during that period. The profits generated from these dynamics spill into an overflowing treasure chest adorned with clown imagery. Even symbols traditionally associated with death and original sin are coated in gold, emphasizing corruption masked by wealth and spectacle.
 
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.