Artists

In Ulises Mazzucca’s work, the body is the central motif: omnipresent in the different media the artist works with, it always appears involved in actions or postures that are manifestations of an inner life. In his work, the body becomes a vehicle for narrating experiences of adolescence and youth, offering a panorama of that stage of life as an intense emotional state in which the bond with oneself, with things, and with others is constantly changing.

Drawing is the root of Mazzucca’s production, but it is not the line, but rather the stroke, that is the mode of its unfolding. The intensity of the artist’s gesture in marking the surfaces infuses his works with a certain aggressive quality that, far from provoking rejection, condenses a power that draws the eye. Mazzucca observes the marginal modes of drawing he finds on public bathroom doors, graffitied walls, or school benches, and traffics them within his works. Hence the irreverence, candor, and inventiveness that characterize them. At the same time, he studies and recreates devices typical of medieval religious art, such as the composition in assembled modules (characteristic of altarpieces) or the perspective of the rebutted plane. The latter seems to allow him to make that “cartography” of the indomitable forces of the body and its senses that is the driving force behind his production.

His chalk and pastel drawings feature figures with large hands and expressive faces, mostly naked or wearing tattered clothes, which are already distinctive in his work. Figures that span the entire plane, huddle against its edges, and contort themselves to the point of implausibility. They take on forms that come from practices and customs that the artist himself professes, such as yoga and dance, but also communication with emojis or wandering the streets. Words play a substantial role: phrases that simulate prayers or song lyrics, along with other smaller drawings, are often superimposed on the bodies as if protruding from their very physicality.

In his pencil drawings, Mazzucca unfolds a series of reduced scenes that, when multiplied, construct fantastical narratives about everyday life and can be read like a comic strip without a script.

Mazzucca also works on the intervention of antique furniture. He uses a gouge to draw by carving the wood while introducing unconventional procedures, such as piercing or burning the surfaces, to obtain textures and tones. In these pieces, the drawing adheres to the object and unfolds in volume, acquiring a sculptural identity.
The artist’s intervention tensions the function of the furniture, which persists, albeit distorted.
Drama and absurdity complement each other in Mazzucca’s pieces, giving rise to complex compositional structures that offer two moments to the viewer. The works first strike the viewer with their forcefulness and their daring to challenge architectural spaces. Secondly, they invite the viewer to come closer to delve into their many details.