BOLOGNA ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS – FRANCESCO COSSU

The work of Francesco Cossu starts with the collection, mostly of wood waste. This is followed by its approximate storage, then by its assembly. The set is constructed in connection with the area, and only afterwards is a relation formed with its inhabitant, the observer. It is the material that determines the organization of the construction, and consequently its shape.
Every piece is chosen for a specific function, to support, to reveal and define a form, to open or close space. The colour is the light hue of plywood, or the darker one of blockboard and solid wood joists, with a limited range of variations. Traces of paint rarely appear and reveal the past of the material, claiming its own identity, diversity, autonomy.
Also iron can be found in the work, even if in small quantities, in the form of screws, nails, angle bars and rivets: they are the bond, partially reversible, which allows Cossu to accumulate solutions, but also to correct and adjust them day by day. The construction appears closed and defensive, but the watchful eyes of those who probe its inside reveal its creative process. We realise, then, that these wooden architectures can be permeated and analysed, offering a redefinition of the environment in which they stand, and of their internal and external space. Francesco pursues the theme of stability, which makes the structure apparently solid, but actually precarious and fragile. On physical contact with the observer, the apparent monumentality disappears, whereas presence and bulk remain.
The Architectures are inhabited by rare objects, found or constructed, mostly leaning: primitive figures emerging from Cossu’s mind, that surprise us and accompany us.

Text by Davide Rivalta