Jago — “Removing the Superfluous”
“Being a sculptor, removing the superfluous, is the only way I can work on myself.”
Jago is a young Italian sculptor, known for the extensive detail and powerful symbolism behind his works. Despite his youth, he’s been awarded some very prestigious awards, and has grown tremendously in popularity by displaying his art independently through his social media platforms. Jago’s achievements are so incredible, they quite simply speak for themselves.
Creating and Destroying
One of his more memorable works, was a sculpture he made of Pope Benedict XVI. The marble statue was well made and highly detailed. Inspired by a sculptor named Adolfo Wildt, Jago decided to give his sculptor concave eyes. Although he was given a chance to fill them in, Jago refused as he felt confident in his choice as an artist. Jago spent a year in Anagni reflecting on his work, until in 2010 when he was asked to display it in the Italy Pavilion. In the end, his work received the medal of the pontificate.
This still isn’t the end of the story however, as soon after his work was acknowledged, Pope Benedict resigned. Following this, Jago decided to revisit the sculpture, chipping away at it to create something new. He removed the Pope’s robes, revealing his upper body. Jago even changed the name of the piece from Habemus Papam, latin for “we have a pope,” to Habemus Hominem, meaning “we have man.” The end result was so detailed and incredible that it’s hard to believe it’s just a sculpture. Every single wrinkle, hair follicle, and liver spot was created with as much attention to detail as possible.
Jago essentially altered a piece that had won both recognition and an award from the Pope, for the sake of advancing himself. According to Jago, he didn’t undress the pope, he wanted to undress his understanding of sculpting, in order to see the most intimate values of his art. This event not only helped Jago grow as an artist, due to the popularity of both the piece and the story on social media, but it also displayed Jago’s pride and values as a person. To be able to destroy one’s own work like this shows that Jago values creation more than he does attachment.
Accomplishments
Of course this is still only one of Jago’s incredible accomplishments. At only age 24, he was selected for the Italian Pavilion of the 54th edition of the Venice Biennale of Art. In 2013 he won Gala de l’Art Award of Monte Cristo and the Arkes Prize. In 2015, his piece “Containers” was awarded the Pio Catel Award. In 2017, his piece “Eataly” won the public award at the Arte Fiera Bologna. This past October, he was a speaker for TEDx Genova. In addition to all of this, he has 237,000 active followers on his facebook, 53,000 followers on his instagram, and over 250,000 total views on his youtube channel.
Speaking of social media, Jago is extremely adept at using it. He shares and sells almost all of his pieces through social media channels, and even livestreams himself sculpting at times. Jago shares all of his art independently through his social media platforms, and even supports his art through crowdfunding, sometimes engraving the names of donors into the bases of his sculptures.
Jagos’ rising fame and recognition are not only due to the incredible skill he puts into his pieces, but also the symbolism behind them. For example, in a piece titled “Vanitas,” Jago sculpted members of Doria Pamphilj family out of both lead and marble, with the marble ones on top. The top statue slowly crushing the bottom was meant to symbolize the effect of time on the senses. In another of his works, “Excalibur,” he comments on how easy it is for children to buy guns in the modern day. And in another work titled “Facelock,” he references how much excessive social media consumption can control us.
Jago is an incredible artist on multiple fronts. He’s achieved multiple tremendous achievements despite being very independent. His works are very well made and have tremendous attention to detail, yet each also boasts a greater meaning behind it. And even if awards or symbolism don’t appeal to you, each of his pieces are quite simply just a pleasure to look at. Jago has already accomplished quite a lot, and I’m eager to see what he does next.
