BUFALE | DAVIDE RIVALTA
The focus of sculptor Davide Rivalta’s research (Bologna, 1974) is the encounter between humans and animals, explored through a process of physical relocation and metaphorical reappropriation of anthropized places.
Bufale is a series of bronze sculptures that reproduce a herd of buffalo strolling in the park of Lucan House in Dublin.
Each sculpture is meticulously detailed, from the incredibly natural pose to the calm and serene expressiveness typical of this animal. Rivalta’s Bufale inhabit the place in which they have been placed as legitimate owners, transforming it into a territory of belonging.
As often happens with Rivalta’s sculptures, which draw inspiration from the condition of real animals kept in captivity, outside their geographical and natural habitat, buffalo are positioned freely, without fences, without boundaries.
This is a foundational and decisive choice for the transition that Rivalta seeks to achieve: allowing animal creatures to inhabit places on an equal footing with humans, following the line of thought that conceives every living being – whether human, animal, or plant – as an integral part of the whole and, as such, with the same rights and dignity.
Rivalta’s practice aims to restore this dignity to the subjects to whom he chooses to give form, selecting those raised in captivity and placing them freely and autonomously within anthropized landscapes.
The sculptures are entirely made of bronze, a material that the artist often uses to create his artworks: the structural characteristics of bronze impart an imposing and majestic aura to the animal, and its natural tone, untainted by paints, gives it a raw yet monolithic appearance, at the same time.
In an increasingly anthropized world influenced by the self-centered daily habits of humans, nature often struggles to carve out the space and importance it deserves. Art, in this sense, can be a valuable contribution in helping viewers regain a real self-awareness as part of a world rich and full of other creatures.
Davide Rivalta
Bufale, 2014-2020
Bronze, variable dimensions
© Courtesy and photo: Davide Rivalta
20/09/2023