SPAVENTAPASSERI | RICCARDO BARUZZI

The aesthetics that distinguishes the artworks of Riccardo Baruzzi (Lugo, 1976) draw inspiration from his personal experiences and a unique, well-defined vision of the surrounding reality, which the artist himself refers to as the ‘Valley.’
The landscape of the ‘Valley’ explored by Baruzzi is composed of marks, sounds, and objects found in unexpected places. His artistic research rejects perfection, focusing instead on imperfections, even the smallest ones, granting them unconventional value.

Spaventapasseri (in English scarecrow) is a series of installations created between 2022 and 2023, featuring structures with iron bases inspired by the tools used by farmers in cultivated fields to keep wild animals away. These objects, however, tend to resemble living beings. This mutable nature characterizes Baruzzi’s work with a layering of meaning that goes beyond a superficial interpretation, delving deeper: the Spaventapasseri have hands made of bronze and elm wood fused together, and terracotta masks with animal-like protrusions; they are creatures in the midst of genetic mutation, still defining their identity.
Moreover, each Spaventapasseri is unique, with its own mask, its own colorful dress, and a different posture compared to the others.

These artworks converge within themselves—and thus let coexist in a single entity—the various categories by which contemporary society classifies the world: human beings, animals, vegetation, and inanimate objects. Acting as a point of intersection, the Spaventapasseri also become a source of reflection, inviting us to question how reality is changing shape day by day, how to adapt to this transformation, and how it might be possible to find a form of coexistence that allows for the existence of every being, whether living or inanimate.

Riccardo Baruzzi
Spaventapasseri, 2023
Terracotta, iron, bronze castings, synthetic fabric, 120 × 120 × 70 cm
Installation view at Galerie Mark Müller, Zürich, CH
Courtesy the artist

08/01/25