Niclas Castello's 'La diabolica commedia: Prelude' Opens at Fàbrica 33

Niclas Castello presents 'La diabolica commedia: Prelude' at Fàbrica 33 in Venice, running until November 22, 2026. The exhibition is the first public chapter of a larger project inspired by Dante's 'Divine Comedy,' which Castello has been developing since 2022. It features over 220 oil pastel drawings on paper (37.5 × 29.4 cm each), created between 2025 and 2026, displayed as a storyboard. The final installation will be a labyrinthine environment of about 900 square meters, comprising 298 paintings in 149 plexiglass cases, divided into Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. Castello extends Dante's journey to 2026, assigning historical figures and events from the last seven centuries to the circles of hell. The choice of Venice is tied to the Biennale and the city's Dantean connections, including the nearby 'La Chiatta di Dante' sculpture by Georgy Frangulyan. Castello, born in 1978 in Neuhaus am Rennweg, Germany, gained international attention in 2022 with 'The Castello Cube,' a 24-karat gold cube weighing about 186 kg. His work is influenced by Pop Art and Neo-Expressionism, notably Jean-Michel Basquiat.