Ciccio Boles

Conjuring the naive and primitive art, Ciccio Boles's still lifes are nothing less than witty and smart.  His single plane perspective flattens the objects into awkward shapes suspended on vertical surfaces. Only carefully-selected color and line tether the scene to reality while his raking shadows allow a hyper-awareness of place.  This intentional "wrongness" is meant to create tension and, consequently, contemplation, while at the same time accentuating the beautiful pattern of color and form in the everyday.

The still life has a long tradition in art history, including the Dutch masters and vanitas paintings.  The objects selected are symbolic, indulgent, and ephemeral; evoking contemplation and the fleeting quality of life.  Ciccio's still lifes embrace these qualities with his unusual dichotomy of objects and singular light source.  His selection of vibrant and thriving flowers, plants, and fruit alongside the more indulgent objects of habit (cigarettes, fast food, gaming), the harbinger of destruction (the rat), and even death (the knife) lends itself to this comparison.  The narrative he creates is thought-provoking, curious, and fun.  One can't help but wonder endlessly who owns this scene, what just happened here, and whose everyday this is.

Likewise, Boles's urban scenes and landscapes tell a story— evidence of a moment, a point of view.  His interior spaces house events and echo narratives, while the flattened plane accentuates the shape and angle of the space without interference of perspective, his color and form intuitively balanced.

A native of San Francisco, Ciccio Boles is self-taught with a background as a fabricator and builder.