Artist: Daniel Boccato
Exhibition title: 69 parrotpaintings
Venue: Berthold Pott, Cologne, Germany
Date: September 2 – October 1, 2022
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Berthold Pott, Cologne
69 parrotpaintings features new works from the series parrotpaintings, started in 2014. These small paintings insist on the same theme: depictions of parrots and women together. In a range of styles, the works range from very representational to less literal interpretations on the theme. Boccato does not paint directly on canvas, the images are produced on paper with an array of drawing and painting media. Markers, inks, watercolors, oil pastels, graphite, colored pencils, acrylic paints etc. The edges of the paper are torn
by hand, irregular and frayed. The paper is then glued onto a linen canvas gaily primed with gesso.
The theme of ‘woman with parrot’ is no stranger to art history: From Egyptian hieroglyphics and Roman mosaics to Medieval tapestries, it has been repeatedly interpreted artistically. Particularly well known are the Flemish and Dutch paintings of the seventeenth century, inspired by imported parrots from expeditions to Brazil, the birthplace of Daniel Boccato. From the nineteenth century, Gustave Courbet’s Woman with Parrot (1866) and Edouard Manet’s Young Lady with Parrot (1866) are particularly noteworthy examples.
“Unerotic depictions of the female body reflect an innocent curiosity towards sexuality, while speaking
to the absurdity of societal obsession with rigid classification. The humility of bodily experience is emphasized, illustrating the untameable corporeal functions that bring together human and animal alike. Boccato culls its source imagery just as much from art history as from Google Images, and reimagines them with a faux-naivety, suggesting that normative cultural understandings of gender are no less simplistic, or naive, than a child’s.” *
* Excerpted from an essay by Rosie Motley on the parrotpaintings. This essay will be featured in an upcoming publication focusing on these works and published and designed by Zolo Press.
Daniel Boccato, born in Campinas, Brazil in 1991, lives and works in New York. It graduated from Cooper Union School of Art, New York, 2014. Its work has been exhibited widely, including: Schlossmuseum Linz, Austria; Galeria Mascota, Mexico City, Mexico; Sorry We Are Closed, Brussels; Formato Comodo, Madrid; The Journal Gallery, New York; Carl Kostyal, London and Malmö; M+B Gallery, Los Angeles; and Mister Fahrenheit, New York, USA. This is the artist’s second solo show, in addition to several group exhibitions, at Berthold Pott.
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
Daniel Boccato, 69 parrotpaintings, 2022, exhibition view, Berthold Pott, Cologne
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2022, 36 × 30 × 2 cm / 14 × 12 × 1 in, acrylic marker, colored pencil, gesso, ink, linen, paper, pen, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2022, 51 × 61 × 2 cm / 20 × 24 × 1 in, acrylic marker, colored pencil, gesso, linen, oil pastel, paper, pva adhesive, walnut ink, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2022, 51 × 58 × 2 cm / 20 × 23 × 1 in, acrylic marker, colored pencil, gesso, ink, linen, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2022, 64 × 53 × 2 cm / 25 × 21 × 1 in, colored pencil, gesso, ink, linen, paper, pva adhesive, walnut ink, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2022, 58 × 61 × 2 cm / 23 × 24 × 1 in, gesso, ink, linen, oil pastel, paper, pen, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2022, 56 × 53 × 2 cm / 22 × 21 × 1 in, acrylic paint, felt tip marker, gesso, linen, oil pastel, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2022, 61 × 56 × 2 cm / 24 × 22 × 1 in, acrylic paint, gesso, ink, linen, oil pastel, paper, pen, pva adhesive, woo
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2022, 48 × 36 × 2 cm / 19 × 14 × 1 in, colored pencil, felt tip marker, gesso, linen, oil pastel, paper, pva adhesive, watercolor, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2015, 30 × 38 × 2 cm / 12 × 15 × 1 in, crayon, gesso, graphite, linen, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2015, 28 × 36 × 2 cm / 11 × 14 × 1 in, crayon, gesso, graphite, linen, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2021, 28 × 36 × 2 cm / 11 × 14 × 1 in, acrylic marker, colored pencil, gesso, linen, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2019, 20 × 23 × 2 cm / 8 × 9 × 1 in, acrylic marker, gesso, graphite, linen, paper, pen, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2022, 53 × 48 × 2 cm / 21 × 19 × 1 in, crayon, gesso, ink, linen, oil pastel, paper, pen, pva adhesive, walnut ink, watercolor, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2021, 25 × 30 × 2 cm / 10 × 12 × 1 in, acrylic marker, colored pencil, gesso, linen, oil pastel, paper, pen, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2016, 20 × 30 × 2 cm / 8 × 12 × 1 in, colored pencil, felt tip marker, gesso, graphite, linen, oil pastel, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2016, 23 × 23 × 2 cm / 9 × 9 × 1 in, felt tip marker, gesso, graphite, linen, oil pastel, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2016, 33 × 43 × 2 cm / 13 × 17 × 1 in, gesso, graphite, linen, oil pastel, paper, pen, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2018, 38 × 41 × 2 cm / 15 × 16 × 1 in, acrylic paint, felt tip marker, gesso, ink, linen, oil pastel, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2021, 33 × 43 × 2 cm / 13 × 17 × 1 in, felt tip marker, gesso, ink, linen, oil pastel, paper, pva adhesive, walnut ink, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2016, 38 × 51 × 2 cm / 15 × 20 × 1 in, gesso, graphite, linen, oil pastel, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2017, 38 × 43 × 2 cm / 15 × 17 × 1 in, acrylic marker, colored pencil, felt tip marker, gesso, ink, linen, oil pastel, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2018, 23 × 36 × 2 cm / 9 × 14 × 1 in, gesso, graphite, ink, linen, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2017, 36 × 36 × 2 cm / 14 × 14 × 1 in, acrylic marker, colored pencil, gesso, linen, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2022, 58 × 53 × 2 cm / 23 × 21 × 1 in, gesso, graphite, ink, linen, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2022, 41 × 48 × 2 cm / 16 × 19 × 1 in, acrylic paint, gesso, graphite, ink, linen, oil pastel, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2022, 41 × 41 × 2 cm / 16 × 16 × 1 in, felt tip marker, gesso, ink, linen, oil pastel, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2022, 46 × 61 × 2 cm / 18 × 24 × 1 in, acrylic paint, gesso, linen, oil pastel, paper, pen, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2022, 51 × 53 × 2 cm / 20 × 21 × 1 in, acrylic paint, colored pencil, gesso, graphite, ink, linen, paper, pva adhesive, walnut ink, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2018, 28 × 38 × 2 cm / 11 × 15 × 1 in, acrylic marker, colored pencil, gesso, linen, paper, pen, polyurethane paint, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2022, 30 × 23 × 2 cm / 12 × 9 × 1 in, gesso, inkjet, linen, paper, pen, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2018, 30 × 20 × 2 cm / 12 × 8 × 1 in, acrylic paint, felt tip marker, gesso, linen, oil pastel, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2022, 46 × 46 × 2 cm / 18 × 18 × 1 in, colored pencil, gesso, ink, linen, paper, pen, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2021, 25 × 25 × 2 cm / 10 × 10 × 1 in, acrylic marker, gesso, ink, linen, paper, pen, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2021, 43 × 33 × 2 cm / 17 × 13 × 1 in, acrylic paint, colored pencil, gesso, ink, linen, paper, pva adhesive, watercolor, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2021, 36 × 41 × 2 cm / 14 × 16 × 1 in, acrylic paint, colored pencil, gesso, ink, linen, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2021, 30 × 41 × 2 cm / 12 × 16 × 1 in, acrylic paint, colored pencil, gesso, ink, linen, paper, pva adhesive, wood
daniel boccato, parrotpainting, 2021, 33 × 46 × 2 cm / 13 × 18 × 1 in, acrylic paint, colored pencil, gesso, linen, paper, pva adhesive, walnut ink, watercolor, wood