
(Brescia, 1985)
Dorothy Bawl investigates the contradictions and aberrations of contemporary society: the addiction to social networks, racism, idealogical fanaticism, discrimination in general or the excessive power of economic lobbies. He does so by setting up his unmistakable photographic set in his studio with compositions of specially created objects, slim or fat models with monstrous appearances, patiently researched actors, despite themselves, of complex theatrical plots, enriched by precious costumes, sometimes from the eighteenth-century, other times in black latex, recalling erotic practices. In the background the distinctive sign of the artist stands out: the green stain that distinguishes him. This results in images of unreal colors, acid colors that define a grotesque sense of melancholy, as in painting and sculpture, with a particular paste of his invention; techniques used provocatively to highlight human aberrations through monstrous reconstructions of the human anatomy, often mixed with tech objects and logos of multinationals. The artist offers us a glimpse of his imaginary world, dominated by a mystical-esoteric symbolism, fascinating and complex, in which objects, multicolored trinkets, conceptual signs, combined with the art of disguise are mixed following magical alchemy in Neo-Pop style to generate new meanings, in sharp contrast to the stereotypes of mass media language.
His expressive codes engages in various fields: winner for two consecutive yers of the competition for the photographic campaign of Amnesty International and the First Prize at the international visual arts competitions GlobalArte and A.MA. Festival in 2012, in 2015 the Archive Foundation “GAC” Cavellini hosts his impressive photographic installation New Babylon, placed, later, in the Maria Callas Park in Sirmione, next to those of Yoko Ono, G. Achille Cavellini and Stefano Bombardieri, in the context of the Utopia Project; in the same year, he wins the competition Corpus Hominis for the realization of the monumental altarpiece of the Church S. Agata in Brescia. In 2017, he exhibits his installation in the context of Biennale di Venezia under the Ponte dell’Accademia and is chosen to create the advertising campaign for the Wonderland Festival in Brescia; moreover, his Snails sculptures, symbol of a spiritual development of humanity in a cosmic key, invade Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Lisbon, Ibiza, Korea, Tokyo, Moscow and New York, to be, finally selected by the Graffik Gallery in London to appear next to the works of Bansky and be applied on the red helmets of the new wave band Devo.
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His research also extends to the theatrical and musical spheres with the creation of important album covers and portraits of artists, including: Beatrice Antolini, soloist and multi-instrumentalist of Vasco Rossi’s, Andy from Bluvertigo, Omar Pedrini, Christina Moser from the duo Krisma, Inoki, Tommy Kuti, Petra Magoni from Musica Nuda, Johnson Righeira, I Tre Allegri Ragazzi morti, the metal band Ecnephias, the international Devo and Phil Collins (Genesis) and many others. In 2019, Bhawl’s works enter the collection of British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood; moreover, the artist participates in the Incrine project, a comic book created by over 70 selected Italian artists and is the creator of the photographic book Lei, Armando, (Morellini Editore), presented at the National Museum of Photography in Brescia and at Macao in Milan. In 2019 Ma.co.f, Centro della Fotografia Italiana, dedicates him the solo exhibition We are what we like. He has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Italy and abroad: in London, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, New York and Hong Kong; he is present at major exhibitions: the International Biennale of Photography in Arezzo, The Blank Art Date, Artrooms, Fai Junk Food in Rome, the Biennale of Soncino.ArtDatea Bergamo, ImageNation in Marco. International Photo Exhibition in Paris and Arles. Recently, the magazines Berlin Art, Fanzine Magazine, Hystrio, Frattura Scomposta, Dentrocas and ImageMag have dedicated important contributions.