First published 2007
Roberto Coda Zabetta stands before his latest creation, watching as workers lower massive wooden cases around his paintings. The Italian artist has spent years creating big, powerful portraits of yelling faces, but now something has changed. He boxes each canvas in stark wooden enclosures, refusing any decorative touches. The cases confine and contain his work in ways that feel both protective and imprisoning. As Roberto moves between his large canvases and smaller works on paper, he grapples with what it means to hide his art away. The wooden barriers transform his studio into a gallery of secrets, each case holding a screaming face that no one can see. Roberto must decide whether these enclosures represent a new artistic vision or a retreat from the world that has always challenged his bold, uncompromising style.
Genres: fiction, art, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, inner-conflict
232 pages · Paperback · Charta