‘‘I could have done nothing else in my life but shape and color things, bringing beauty into the homes and lives of people’’
I was 8 years old when I began to dabble with my first compositions. Back then, I had only one fan (my mother), but her support was enough to make me feel like the most renowned artist of the Vittoriano. I was convinced that the journey in painting would be a prolonged artistic pursuit towards the authentic creative persona I had assured her I would find. Following years of arduous dedication in the demanding but shaping art institute on Via di Ripetta, in Rome between Piazza del Popolo and Piazza di Spagna, I was quickly propelled by the era's leading figures into the most historic and renowned studios and workshops of Italian and Roman artists. Yet, despite it being an important and substantial achievement, I couldn't shake off a painful inner void slowly wearing me down.
Unbelievable. I had it all, I was doing what I loved. Yet inside me, something was not right…
I instantly recognized that art was the sole key to unlocking my potential. My soul, trapped, was choking from the challenge of expressing my inner emotions and thoughts.
No one could understand me... No one was able to make me feel appreciated. No one was able to fill that three-dimensional void that, ever since I woke up, set my heart ablaze.
Only my colors and my canvases had that power over me. After yet another disappointment, I dropped everything and everyone and delved into the second chapter of my quest. The most insane and bold move of my unusual life... To seclude myself and move to the United States.
Wow!
I still remember, just after landing in Miami, how every part of me was completely captivated by these mesmerizing, timeless colors that people began to call "POP ART". I hadn't even made it to my hotel, yet I already felt a deep desire to express myself to the world in that way forever.
When I look back on those 3 years, they now seem like ten lifetimes... Despite excruciating abrasions, persistent burning, and intense scalds all over my body, I honed the definitive technique that ultimately transformed me into the fire artist I am recognized as today.
The physical pain was more bearable than hearing my soul's silent screams where I dwelled in the gray prison of my mind and emotions without any way out.
I felt like I was trapped in a maze. Light and color were the only pathways towards harmony and balance.
Back in Rome to pick up where I left off, I initially decided to visit just one “person” among all those I had painfully left behind in my past. He was the only one who never turned their back on me and, during the darkest nights, as I tortured my soul, continued to show me a glimmer of light that turned out to be my small, precious, and dazzling anchor of salvation.
Yes! I mean Jesus.
It was right there, kneeling in my favorite church, before a massive cross, with tears of gratitude in my eyes when I was struck by the insight that finally perfected my technique. This would become my signature and the enduring symbol of my artistic endeavor: the combustion of methacrylate.
A renewing fusion that empowers me to reinterpret the immortal legends of the contemporary era.
And here begins the third and final chapter of my story.
Each week brings a new gallery, a fresh exhibit, and a renewed joy in witnessing the name Dicò alongside great art figures such as Andy Warhol, Mimmo Rotella, Pablo Echaurren, Sigfrido Oliva, and Barbara Bouchet...
Imagine, not only painting historical figures but also beginning to represent cities and landscapes.
Within a month of this realization, my striking Colosseum, standing 3 meters high, found itself alongside the Twin Towers and a radiant Eiffel Tower in contemporary art museums – spaces I had lacked the courage to step into just years before.
From world leaders to Hollywood celebrities, musical legends to tycoons, luxury fashion creators to international sports stars, they were all springboards to countless connections and friendships on this paradoxical planet. Everyone wanted a piece of Dicò’s work to keep and display in their homes, as if capturing a piece of my colorful life journey, immortalized on a canvas and showcased on a wall.
Icons such as Renzo Rosso of Diesel, Renato Balestra, Matteo Marzotto, Keanu Reeves, Penelope Cruz, Morgan Freeman, Antonio Banderas, Luisa Ranieri, and Javier Bardem have selected to showcase me in their vast living rooms, turning them into the most refined and exclusive New York jazz clubs with my neon rainbows.
After a lifetime of capturing colors in all their countless shapes, crafting faces and sceneries from the depths of my vivid imagination, I was able to keep the heartfelt promise made to my most valued fan after 40 years. On June 7, 2017, I finally had the honor of exhibiting in the sacred Complesso del Vittoriano. My deepest and most ineffable contentment is in having gifted a smile to that angel who gave me the initial who first inspired me to find brightness in the shadows and to shift my gaze to start seeing colors in what had always been a black-and-white world.
Welcome to my world...