"In the mirror we are all alike, all suspended between dream and reality. Beyond their function, my mirroring artworks are reflections on the contemporary. Unfinished thoughts longing for a personal meaning....".
Daniele Basso (born on August 4th, 1975 in Moncalieri - Turin) is an Italian artist well known for his works in mirror-polished metal. Works that induce a greater awareness of ourselves in the search for our identity. He has participated in three editions of the Venice Biennale of Art, with exhibitions and works in different parts of the world, including Carrousel du Louvre (Paris), University of the Seraphicum (Vatican), GNAM (Rome), Expo 2015 (Milan), World of Coca Cola (Atlanta), Officine della Scrittura (Turin), Museo del Parco (Portofino), Shoah Memorial (Milan) and in galleries in New York, Dubai, Saint Petersburg, Tel Aviv, Monte-Carlo, Lugano, Milan, Turin and Bologna. In 2015 "Coke Its Me" (The Coca-Cola Company) and Gigant (SWC Alta Badia - Unesco Park Dolomites). In 2016 "Aquamantio" (MOSCA1916) in Biella. In 2017 "Il Cavallino" (70th Anniversary Ferrari) and the awards at the 67th Sanremo Festival, for Star Team Monaco (S.A.S. Prince Albert II of Monaco) and for Inter FC. In 2018 the collaboration with Ferrero Gallery (Ivrea) and Hysteria Art Gallery (Milan). In 2019 the collaboration with Laura Tartarelli Contemporary Art Gallery in Pietrasanta end Gabriel Art On Stage at the Teatro del Silenzio by Andrea Bocelli, directed by Luca Tommassini.
"With my work I try to explore the meaning of things and life. Each work of art expresses a message. The goal is to generate a reflection and to induce people to a greater personal and collective self-awareness. The sculptures become symbols and monuments in which we recognize ourselves, not only as individuals, but above all as components of a unique and distinctive community. To be proud of it. Whose values are to be preserved as part of our identity. Hence the interaction of my work with companies, a pure expression of the Genius Loci and custodians of the know-how and culture that distinguishes every single territory in the world. Through the pursuit of beauty I look for concrete grips and positive emotions, to stimulate consciences to the imagination, to the dream and to the project of a better future!"
We are all the same in front of a mirror, driven towards an eerie unsubstantial dimension suspended between dream and reality, a metaphor of contemporary society confronted with its own wishes and seeking the new meaning of life.
“…to the extreme, the crack allows the environment to coexist with our inner dimension at a glance. A fourth dimension where the stillness of signs is opposed to the ever-moving world, where the universal value of concepts survives the indifference of time going by...”
“... just like memory, that matches words and concepts with faces, my portraits imbue faces with the power of ideas and the results achieved by the subjects, conveying their full emotions ...”
"...They use the modern language of new digital technologies and the Net to reveal the emotional instability of contemporary society... they represent the search for our identity and place in the world!...”
"...By describing individuals and objects via the folds of life running through them, they become both unique and iconic, an expression of a precise construction of the self, as we are before a mirror, where we take it upon ourselves to become protagonists… connected by our awareness that our happiness does not rely on events, yet our reaction to them!"
Stainless Steel: A virtually eternal material. Ethical, because it is eco-sustainable and can be recycled. Worked and polished entirely by hand, to confirm the necessary intellectual superiority of man over technology and machinery;
Folds: A physical expression of change, the only true constant in life. Folds represent the experiences and choices we make and that define us. I use folds to describe and give shape to a subject in a way as unique as we all are. Thus, the many triangular surfaces that are generated, represent the innumerable faces of reality, which appears to be one, but is multifaceted… as is truth;
Creative process: Ideation through designs. Development and engineering using the latest technologies for contemporary, almost digital, aesthetics, linked to the Net. Entirely handcrafted execution to confirm man’s superiority over machine.
Art as universal communication: Since its very beginning, Art has been a tool for sharing through its capacity to stir emotions. It generates symbols and transforms the messages and values they contain into universal social facts. Art inspires us with its ceaseless quest for the ecstasy of beauty, the highest expression of a moment. This is all my work tends to: inspiring us to think about the future we would like and urge us to make it real. Not even for us and our children only, but rather for our grand-children.
Daniele Basso (born on August 4th, 1975 in Moncalieri - Turin) is an Italian artist well known for his works in mirror-polished metal. Works that induce a greater awareness of ourselves in the search for our identity. He has participated in three editions of the Venice Biennale of Art, with exhibitions and works in different parts of the world, including Carrousel du Louvre (Paris), University of the Seraphicum (Vatican), GNAM (Rome), Expo 2015 (Milan), World of Coca Cola (Atlanta), Officine della Scrittura (Turin), Museo del Parco (Portofino), Shoah Memorial (Milan) and in galleries in New York, Dubai, Saint Petersburg, Tel Aviv, Monte-Carlo, Lugano, Milan, Turin and Bologna. In 2015 "Coke Its Me" (The Coca-Cola Company) and Gigant (SWC Alta Badia - Unesco Park Dolomites). In 2016 "Aquamantio" (MOSCA1916) in Biella. In 2017 "Il Cavallino" (70th Anniversary Ferrari) and the awards at the 67th Sanremo Festival, for Star Team Monaco (S.A.S. Prince Albert II of Monaco) and for Inter FC. In 2018 the collaboration with Ferrero Gallery (Ivrea) and Hysteria Art Gallery (Milan). In 2019 the collaboration with Laura Tartarelli Contemporary Art Gallery in Pietrasanta end Gabriel Art On Stage at the Teatro del Silenzio by Andrea Bocelli, directed by Luca Tommassini.
"With my work I try to explore the meaning of things and life. Each work of art expresses a message. The goal is to generate a reflection and to induce people to a greater personal and collective self-awareness. The sculptures become symbols and monuments in which we recognize ourselves, not only as individuals, but above all as components of a unique and distinctive community. To be proud of it. Whose values are to be preserved as part of our identity. Hence the interaction of my work with companies, a pure expression of the Genius Loci and custodians of the know-how and culture that distinguishes every single territory in the world. Through the pursuit of beauty I look for concrete grips and positive emotions, to stimulate consciences to the imagination, to the dream and to the project of a better future!"
IMAGERY OF REFLECTIVE SURFACES
Looking in the mirror is an age-old innate gesture, an intimate moment which conveys getting ready before making the scene, whether on stage or in society. Surrounded by a familiar setting, when we look in the mirror we make up the look we want to show. The Mirror is a simple object found in all cultures, unchanged over time yet rich in contents as well as symbolically and emotionally charged. It refers to our cultural identity, the focus on imagination in both industry and society, our ethics and responsibility in making our own future as we wish it to be. It is also a Made-in-Italy concept statement through Fashion and Design, a reflective tool for true reflection on beauty, Art and creativeness, essential qualities to make a better future, thus becoming an ideal instrument to overcome limits and cultural boundaries which dry up human relationships.We are all the same in front of a mirror, driven towards an eerie unsubstantial dimension suspended between dream and reality, a metaphor of contemporary society confronted with its own wishes and seeking the new meaning of life.
MIRROR-FINISH ARTWORKS
“...The mirrored surfaces of my works are space-time cracks where the soul of objects becomes a message. Beyond their tangible function, they are reflections about modernity, unfinished thoughts to be completed by finding our own meaning…”“…to the extreme, the crack allows the environment to coexist with our inner dimension at a glance. A fourth dimension where the stillness of signs is opposed to the ever-moving world, where the universal value of concepts survives the indifference of time going by...”
“... just like memory, that matches words and concepts with faces, my portraits imbue faces with the power of ideas and the results achieved by the subjects, conveying their full emotions ...”
LIGHT SCULPTURES
"...through light, folds are the embodiment of change, movement, life itself. They collect stories, experiences and events that make up reality as we know it. A metaphor of crises turning into opportunities, unveiling the many facets of reality, which appears as one, but is actually manifold"."...They use the modern language of new digital technologies and the Net to reveal the emotional instability of contemporary society... they represent the search for our identity and place in the world!...”
"...By describing individuals and objects via the folds of life running through them, they become both unique and iconic, an expression of a precise construction of the self, as we are before a mirror, where we take it upon ourselves to become protagonists… connected by our awareness that our happiness does not rely on events, yet our reaction to them!"
THE KEY THEMES OF MY ART ARE
Mirror-polished surfaces: Looking at oneself in a mirror is an innate and ancestral gesture, between private and public, an act of self-awareness that has given rise to society. It is a metaphor I use for its strong communicative value, and to make everyone a part of the piece and its message;Stainless Steel: A virtually eternal material. Ethical, because it is eco-sustainable and can be recycled. Worked and polished entirely by hand, to confirm the necessary intellectual superiority of man over technology and machinery;
Folds: A physical expression of change, the only true constant in life. Folds represent the experiences and choices we make and that define us. I use folds to describe and give shape to a subject in a way as unique as we all are. Thus, the many triangular surfaces that are generated, represent the innumerable faces of reality, which appears to be one, but is multifaceted… as is truth;
Creative process: Ideation through designs. Development and engineering using the latest technologies for contemporary, almost digital, aesthetics, linked to the Net. Entirely handcrafted execution to confirm man’s superiority over machine.
Art as universal communication: Since its very beginning, Art has been a tool for sharing through its capacity to stir emotions. It generates symbols and transforms the messages and values they contain into universal social facts. Art inspires us with its ceaseless quest for the ecstasy of beauty, the highest expression of a moment. This is all my work tends to: inspiring us to think about the future we would like and urge us to make it real. Not even for us and our children only, but rather for our grand-children.