Rocco | Evoke not Provoke | March 2025

Von Buren Contemporary presents

Evoke not Provoke

solo exhibition of

AGOSTINO ROCCO

Von Buren Contemporary is thrilled to present EVOKE NOT PROVOKE, the solo exhibition of Italian artist Agostino Rocco.

The technically dazzling works that Rocco has created for this new show are in the portrait tradition.

Through thirteen small but penetrating images, the artist sets out to demonstrate that the evocative dimension of his medium is far more compelling than what he sees as potentially sterile attempts at provocation. While many artists choose to communicate and express themselves through provocation, Rocco wants to make an impression through sheer virtuosity, winning our admiration for the mastery of his craft.

The faces depicted are rendered in perfect detail and transmit a surprising intensity, with the skin tones in particular incredibly realistic. At the same time, Rocco’s images stop short of hyperrealism and it is clear to the viewer that these faces spring from the artist’s imagination and not a photograph.

The brightness of the palette employed evokes an explosion of life in all its potentially disruptive beauty – a value for Rocco which remains something an artist should aspire to.

Agostino Rocco was born in 1971 in Padua, the city where he still lives and works. Self-taught, Rocco has devoted himself to the study of art history and the work of certain Old Masters who have become a constant and vital source of inspiration: the Tuscan and Flemish artists of the 15th century, and the French and Dutch painters of the 17th century.

Rocco is currently focused on the representation of human faces and, while he draws on various influences, fashion aesthetics hold particular sway in this latest research.