P(VIPs)po (PEPSIS) | ROBERTO CUOGHI

A puppet lies on the ground after a violent fall. The impact was so intense that it caused the destruction of its limbs, from which the stuffing spills out. This is the image evoked by P(VIPs)po, a work by Roberto Cuoghi (Modena, 1973; lives and works in Milan), part of the PEPSIS series.

For Cuoghi, the creative process that leads to the realization of his works represents the true core of art itself. It is a path in constant transformation, fueled by the ongoing experimentation with new techniques and languages. The result is a body of work that is always unique and unrepeatable. This investigative approach allows the artist to move across different styles, making his practice transversal, hermetic, and profoundly enigmatic.

In the PEPSIS series, Cuoghi consciously adopts stylization as a method: he reproduces familiar forms and images. For the artist, to stylize means to return to the original form, to replicate already internalized models. However, this tendency to repeat assimilated concepts risks hindering access to the new and obstructing the drive toward innovation. In PEPSIS, however, this logic is overturned: what has already been seen, experienced, and “digested” is no longer a cage but rather a starting point from which to draw new inspiration—a fertile ground for going beyond mere replication. The title of the series, PEPSIS, comes from the Greek and means “digestion.” But it is also the scientific name of a particular species of wasp that uses the body of other insects to nourish its larvae. To make them hosts for its parasitic offspring, it manipulates their behavior. The wasp acts to suppress the will of its victim, much like a passively repeated quotation can neutralize originality. Cuoghi, on the contrary, invites us to break this mechanism—to transform what is already known into a matrix to be reinvented, rather than a scheme to be repeated.

Roberto Cuoghi’s work is currently on view at the MAMbo in Bologna as part of the exhibition Facile ironia. L’ironia nell’arte italiana tra XX e XXI secolo, curated by Lorenzo Balbi and Caterina Molteni. The exhibition features over one hundred works by artists who, over the years, have explored and interpreted the many forms of irony.

Roberto Cuoghi
Facile ironia. L’ironia nell’arte italiana tra XX e XXI secolo
MAMbo – Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna
Until September 7, 2025
MAMbo

Roberto Cuoghi (b. 1973)
P(VIPs)po, 2020
Oil on canvas
180 x 224 x 4.5 cm / 70 7/8 x 88 1/4 x 1 3/4 inches
Photo: Alessandra Sofia
© Roberto Cuoghi
Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth

View of the exhibition Facile ironia. L’ironia nell’arte italiana tra XX e XXI secolo
Photo by Carlo Favero
© Roberto Cuoghi, by Siae 2025