Rocco Alberico | Articles

ARTICLES/REVIEWS

Provoking Hidden Intentions with Rocco Alberico
By James Cavello
NY Arts Magazine, March/April 2004

The first time I viewed Rocco Alberico’s sculptures was at the Broadway Gallery – I was intrigued by the multi-layered commentaries within his creative and thought provoking work. As I studied the well-crafted architectural constructions and the interior dioramas I was fascinated with the complexity of meaning and learned that Rocco is inspired by many experiences such as his childhood in Long Island, life in Manhattan, in addition to religion, cults, voodoo, beliefs and even road trips around the U.S. and Europe.

The architectural structures house a miniature two-dimensional or three-dimensional scene that can be viewed through an open door or window, revealing clandestine rituals or nature’s enigmas or possibly a symbolic message to be interpreted by the viewer. In addition to the scenes visible from the front or side of the sculpture, each work has a viewfinder attached, which is sometimes camouflaged on the outside of the structure. Looking through the 3D viewer pieces together another aspect of the meaning or implication implied by the artist. The 3D viewer for me was a throwback to childhood, when I owned a View Master with color discs, before we had a color television. As a young boy, it was a mystical experience to see a panorama in front of you that was so realistic, yet untouchable. In Rocco’s work, the 3D viewer exposes unreal dimensions, such as the 3D image in 25 Miles as the Crow Flies, of a 1950’s gas stove with an old coffee pot floating above an open flame, which only makes the one ponder the viewer’s relationship to the entire piece. I found myself elated when I was able to piece together the elements of structure, diorama and 3D viewer into what I determined to be its underlying meaning.

In the sculpture Aliam Excute Quercum World Headquarters is a 27-inch tall gray building with a sloping roof and a revolving globe positioned on top of the building. In his description of the work, Rocco states, “This is the world headquarters of the A.E.Q., a secretive organization whose true purpose remains unclear. Members are sworn to secrecy and membership is by ‘invitation only’. It has branches in over 30 countries with the largest concentration of members in the United States and Finland.” The outside of the A.E.Q. building appears strange and sinister, completely covered with small wire spikes. A sliding metal door with teeth reveals a rock wall providing no entrance. Through a window at the top of the building one can see a room covered in the same small metal spikes, a miniature table with a bull’s eye target on the top, three small chairs and a bomb suspended above the table. The 3D viewfinder image shows a hooded figure carrying a shovel and bearing a symbolic triangle in a circle on the back of its jacket. Very mysterious circumstances surround this work, such as are the subjects of movies, novels, the National Enquirer and Ripley’s Believe it or Not. However, Rocco provides us with many clues to decipher the implication presented within the work. Similar to the premise in the recent novel “The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown, symbolism, secret sects, religion, knowledge, relationships and art are presented to provide the viewer with a look into a private world.

Once I experienced Rocco’s work and met this extraordinary artist, so soft-spoken and articulate, I also wanted to show his work in my gallery. The exhibition consisted of 10 sculptures and the response was tremendous. I should have videotaped the reaction of wonder and the commentary from viewers – each work brought out discussions and caused people who did not know each other to discuss their interpretations.

The same thing happened in Berlin with the German audience while the exhibition was at the Berliner Kunst Project, although the Germans focused much more on the literal meaning of each work, especially those that contained any religious or social overtones. Rocco was deeply affected by his recent trip to Germany and Austria, which has provoked new work to be completed. For more information, please visit http://www.roccoalberico.com/.

Rocco Alberico/ John Perrault @ 473 Broadway Gallery
By David Forrester
NY Arts Magazine, 2003

The works of Rocco Alberico and John Perrault were on view at two separate exhibitions at 473 Broadway Gallery last month.

Rocco Alberico presented nine sculptures which are all models of buildings and suggest churches, single family homes and small office buildings. They are lit from the inside and often include mechanical elements. From afar, it is the profiles of the structures and the light emitted from their windows that attract.

Up close one is drawn to the objects and scenes visible inside the structures and the narrative they suggest. Inside a bunker like building sheep with targets on their sides circle a lamb laden with dynamite (In the name of Allah, the Protector and Forgiver). In a tall narrow structure (Church of Disordered Intellect) the sign hanging out front is a circular target which surrounds what looks like an Anarchist's "A" and the motif is repeated inside on the church's benches. Hanging inside where an altar would be is shooting target of a torso and head.

As Alberico describes, "Each building has a stereoscopic viewer with a 3D image relating to the theme of the piece."

In some works, like the one above, the connection between the photograph and the structure is somewhat obvious- a man in a grassy field holds a target, like the one at the alter, in front of himself and it has arrows sticking into it. In others like 25 Miles as the Crow Flies (a particularly successful work in it's surreal juxtapositions and metaphorical ambiguity) a tin coffee pot floating above a lit stove has a less direct relationship to the structure- an office building with a hand with the stigmata surfacing from the ocean on the inside, a map of Long Island at the door step and windows filled with images of blue sky and clouds