At 24 he represented Italy at Venice Biennale (one of the most important art exhibitions in the world) but “things didn’t really change”. Here is the story of an artist who challenged the rules of nature and who he is loved by the Vatican, don’t compare him to Michelangelo though!
by Francesca Mazzola
He takes his goggles off. He is smiling and talking as if he had never achieved what he has achieved: a role as one of the most important artists in the world right now.
His sculptures morph into human parts, hands, feet or “just” Pope Benedict XVI, and they morph again and again until they are not sculptures anymore but the embodiment of his soul.
Oct 2018 Galleria Montrasio Arte - Monza - Italy
Every day he takes almost three hours, travelling from Manhattan where he lives to Westbury, Long Island, where he incessantly carves, breaks and shapes a block of marble for 10 hours straight.
“It’s a physical job and it’s hard but it’s still the best way to relax for me. I would prefer working rather than going to the beach,” says Jacopo Cardillo, aka Jago.
At 33, Jacopo Cardillo is an Italian artist who always tries to wake up in the morning and live day by day with the same amazement of the child he once was.
A day in Jago’s life is travelling the world: China, US, Europe, and then sleeping five hours every night, sculpting and doing everything all over again. Being a 360-degree artist is not only producing your own pieces but also being your own manager and communicator.
“What I am doing is different: the artist has a direct contact with people. A ‘click’ can make you reach other individuals and probably buyers of your work or just amateurs who will talk about your creations at dinner with their friends,” he says.
Jago doesn’t like the word “art”, however. “I don’t see any significance in the word ‘art’, it’s a word that is overused and that has lost its meaning. Even a criminal can be an artist,so everyone who has certain abilities in doing something,” he says.
His Facebook page has 246,000 likes and a documentary about him by Fanpage has garnered 13 million views. Jacopo Cardillo has achieved the Medal of the Pontificate, shaping the first Pope who resigned since 1294.
“The fundamental qualities of Jago are revealed through intelligence and artistic capability, which have made it possible to grow a bright personality and able to communicate a joyful determination that creates amazement and attraction,” said Maria Teresa Benedetti, art historian and president of the Association of Italian Critics.
Jago is never satisfied with his works; he destroys, he bares his soul like he did with the “Habemus Hominem” (stripping the Pope’s sculpture of his clothes).
“The work ‘Donald’, exposed in New York, totally sucks in my opinion. I would never buy that work but now I am modifying it and knowing the desired level I want to reach. I live in constant acceptance because I have a limited to time realising a certain thing,” he says.
7 – 10 May 2019 Highline Stages - NewYork - USA
Tommaso Zinjo, art curator, got to know Jago the first time five years ago. “I remember seeing some of his works on Facebook while I was looking for young emerging artists and have been fascinated by him. I was writing for different art magazines at the time and I immediately asked to interview him,” he says.
“Our encounter in his studio in Anagni, Lazio Italy resulted in a two-hour video that I still own and I decided not to publish. That chat made me understand the sincerity of his art.”
Curiosity is what never changed inside him, he is still that child who destroys a phone to understand how it works, he is still that child who builds that tree house to be more independent, he is Jago.
Jago’s next exhibition will be in Naples, Italy at the end of June: “Il Figlio Velato” (the veiled son) is coming soon.
To follow his exhibitions follow https://jago.art/