Enzo Cucchi's Quarantine Works on Paper at Rome Show

A small but rich exhibition in Rome presents recent works on paper by Enzo Cucchi (born 1949 in Morro d'Alba, lives in Rome), including two totemic pieces and a bronze sculpture. The core of the project is the analogical structuring of drawings that, by incorporating sections of other drawings, become excessive, three-dimensional objects. The imagery tends toward a mystical, preconscious figural realm. Most works are small, nearly A4 size, functioning perfectly as book covers for Frazer or Jung. The ensemble captures a dark and warm Cucchi, deeply attracted to the archetypal, capable of alogical yet solid visions masterfully highlighted. Limitations in devising hypnotic masks à la De Dominicis are balanced by Cucchi's formidable ability to trigger the phantasmatic through pseudo-narrative means. The catalog and installation are superb.