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Riccardo Matlakas

Riccardo Matlakas is best known for his multi-talented capacity in different art forms including performance art, painting, sculpture and installation.

Matlakas obtained a degree in Sculpture at the University of Fine Arts in Naples and art studies at Goldsmiths University of London and University of the arts London (UAL) and obtained an MA in Social Sculpture at Oxford Brookes University.


Riccardo values the context he works in as the main inspiration for his work, finding a common ground with each culture he connects with. The artist creates cathartic actions and performances in the fore-front of current political, environmental and spiritual concerns by digging for the essence of humanity beyond race and custom. The multidisciplinary artist works also actively with painting, street art and ceramic mosaics going further into installation art. Amongst various exhibitions abroad Riccardo Matlakas has performed and shown his work in Moscow Biennale of young artists in 2010, Gwangju Biennale in 2014 and Prague Quadrennial and had his work collected by the museum of Modern Art in Odessa, Ukraine and the Museum of Palestine in Cape town, including conspicuous numbers of collective exhibitions internationally, and several solo exhibition in Wanju, South Korea, Sofia, Bulgaria and Ibiza, Spain. Matlakas has taken part of a significant number of artists residencies internationally such as in Darat Al Funun, Amman, Jordan; Municipal gallery in Kharkiv, Ukraine supported by the British council and the Liverpool Biennale; Mothership Nyc in New York, Brooklyn and many others. The artist has also performed at DMZ area during the The PyeongChang 2018 cultural Olympiad, the Opening Gallery in New York, Manhattan, territory performance art festival in Ibiza and many others.

MELTING BORDERS

Melting Borders is a performance/action that symbolically melts the flags of the countries where it's performed in. Often performed in border towns where two or more flags are melted away, and the melted ice cream stains with the colors of the shirt the performer is wearing. The result is the new flag, as the artist calls it: "The Sweet Flag”. A flag that merges countries together, abstracting what we identify as a flag, abstracting the idea of a Nation. Going back to the source of equality.


With this action the artist wanted to symbolically melt the borders away, leaving only the sweetness and the beauty of humanity. The first "Melting Borders happened in Armenia and by performing it he wanted to highlight the essence and beauty of its culture.

Melting Borders, PyeongChang Cultural Olympics, DMZ Area, South Korea/North Korea Border,2018

 filmed by Gunho Jang

photos by Young Il Kwon 

Melting Borders in Amman, Jordan. Performed in Occasion of the final Exhibition at Darat Al Funun 30th Anniversary, 2018

photos by Zakaria Mohammed

filmed by Zakaria Mohammed

More about Melting Borders:

https://www.matlakas.co.uk/performance/melting-borders/

SWEET THORN

Sweet Thorn was conceived in Palestine and performed so far in Cape Town (2015), Seoul (2015), Jeju Island (2015) and Naples (2016), Valladolid in 2018 and London in 2022.



Dressed in 100 meters of barbed wire and 100 roses. Blowing balloons with written words. Each word represents something I want to transform on Earth. Slowly freeing myself from the barbed wire with the use of a cutter. With the pieces of barbed wire, a stem is created. the artist uses the barbed wire stem to create a flower with the burst balloon which had a word written on representing something he wants to change in the world (eg: Racism, Brutality, Violence, Injustice, etc.). The artist makes a white flower which will be given, together with a red rose to a member of the audience as a cathartic action for transformation. Slowly getting totally free from the wire. the artist says in an interview: "By the act of giving, I free myself".

Sweet Thorn in Cape Town, South Africa

Performed for the Institute of Palestine in South Africa and the Museum of Palestine in Cape Town, 2015.

Photos by Thakira Desai

Sweet Thorn for Ukraine


Dressed in 100 meters of barbed wire and 100 roses. Blowing balloons with written words. Each word represents something I want to transform on earth. Slowly freeing myself from the wire with the use of a cutter. With the pieces of barbed wire, a stem is created. Using the stem and the burst balloon written on each balloon a word of something I want to transform (eg: Racism, Brutality, Violence, Injustice, etc.), I will make a white flower which will be given, together with a rose to a member of the audience as a cathartic action for transformation. Slowly getting totally free from the wire.

More about Sweet Thorn:

https://www.matlakas.co.uk/performance/sweet%20thorn.html

LAND IN LAND

Sofia, Bulgaria, April 2022 


A new Maple tree was planted in front of Sofia Arsenal Museum for Contemporary Art Софийски арсенал-музей за съвременно изкуство/Sofia Arsenal-MCA Photo by Mihaela Draganova. Special thanks to Visionary and Mihaela Kamenova to make possible this 'sharp' work and for the planting of a new Maple tree in town, which is now growing.

“Land in Land” is an art performance in which Riccardo Matlakas created a knife wearable structure while walking in the town of Sofia, ending with the planting of a Maple tree as a permanent installation in front of Sofia Arsenal Museum for Contemporary art. The action addresses the issue of political corruption in Bulgaria. Matlakas proposed the creation of the land “we want” in the existing land, where people would share and express their vision of this future.

Performance art by Matlakas 

Producer: Visionary 

Soundtrack: Rossen Pavlov 

Photographer: Mihaela Draganova 

The project is organized with the financial support of the National Cultural Fund and the Italian Cultural Institute in Sofia (Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Sofia). 

Partners: Zalag Darise.

More about Land in Land:

https://www.matlakas.co.uk/land-in-land.html

PYJAMAS PARTY


 

Performed during a residency of 40 days sponsored by British Council in collaboraion with Liverpool Biennale and Municipal Gallery in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Matlakas, with the help of locals, created a pyjamas for the T-34 tank in front of History Museum of Kharkiv, Ukraine.

The action involved the creation of a fake permission, the creation of a large size pyjamas for the original T-34 second war's Tank and the operation of dressing the tank which lasted 2 hours.

The aim of this performance was to cathartically change the image of a tank, wanting war to fall asleep so that peace can be awaken. Matlakas explains the choice of the pyjamas' patterns and more details on a tv interview to UA: Харків, a local Tv Channel in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

More about Pyjamas Party:

https://www.matlakas.co.uk/performance/pyjamas%20party.html

THE MASS PROTESTER

 In “The Mass Protester" Matlakas joins all the causes of the world, he addresses in a solo walk all that needs to be changed in the world. "The Mass Protester" joins a global march, carrying the world in a single walk. The demonstration in fact, it is not merely designated in one thing that humans should focus attention on and change, but on the many aspects of human wrongdoing in the world. The Mass Protestor is here to highlight and remind us that the problem is not only one and injustice is everywhere in the world, he just invites us to be aware of it to make a massive change…

More about The Mass Protester:

https://www.matlakas.co.uk/performance/the-mass-protester.html