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ACRITER ET FIDELITER, as a conceptual joke - it is also the official motto of the Swiss Guards to the Pope - unites such evocative forms as feudal spears and Swiss army knives in an irreverent vision that can be seen as an anachronistic pastiche, simultaneously paradoxical and multi-cultural.
Indeed the artist has invented a series of spears and lances reinterpreted as possible objects of design. These artistic creations are the uncanny hybrids between Swiss army knives (in the most complex and super-accessorized versions) and medieval poleaxes. The objects in question are actual sculptures but Riello has rendered this project even more surreal by representing these weapons as monumental photographs. Just like in the study or hunting lodge of the classic English gentleman, the weapons designed by Antonio Riello are proudly displayed on walls covered in tartan wallpaper, manufactured specifically for this exhibition. As a corrupted symbol of a Scottish clan, an authentic tartan pattern has been modified by the artist to become a sly metaphor for “united” Europe today, fractured and imperfect.
The artist has intentionally inserted printing errors into the wallpaper pattern, introducing strange and unexpected elements like Pac-man. This suggests that today, even the most rigid, geometric lines (and political directions) can be compromised.
