Crafted by the architect and visual artist Vinicius Libardoni during his extended stay in Poland between 2017 and 2023, CONCRETE PRINTED SCULPTURE is an experimental printmaking technique that allows etched images to be printed on a unusual support: Concrete.

Through his original and signature artistic language, Vinicius Libardoni has devised a method of "memorizing" long-lost architectures, recasting their lost materiality in his monumental printed sculptures, recreating their narratives and empathetic aesthetic experiences.

“Working at the confluence of the fields of art and architecture, I combine etching techniques with material exploration as my tools for expression. In my artistic practice, I aim to  promote the potential of the unfolding of the image in space through the creation of printed objects, which recast a material record of architectures often already lost, bringing them back into the circuit of existence and thus allowing them to be physically experienced once again.

In casting the image of lost structures in concrete, by combining the aesthetics of craft, the tactile characteristics of materials, and architecture's constructive solutions in an entirely novel artistic experiment, I seek to unearth these buildings and their stories and bring them back to life even if only in the realm of the imagery.

Inspired by the multiple historical and temporal layers that are revealed over the facades of buildings throughout the streets and cities I visited, I began to explore printmaking as an archeological tool, through which I sought to unearth images of buildings capable of revealing information about them that at first glance seemingly invisible to the eye.

Starting with traditional etching techniques, I moved into materials that even further manifested the mementos of forever lost buildings. The materials used do not play the role of mere support but take on a fundamental part in constructing the image itself. Just like drawing, materials can also reveal something about what is seen but not perceived. It is as if they have their own inner, untamed voice.”

“This process of experimental concrete etching makes these images imbued with even more significance, they become gravestones in this new format.”

By combining the aesthetics of craft, the tactile characteristics of the materials, and the constructive solutions themselves, it is as if these buildings acquire a new meaning in their representation, gaining a second life in their print objects. By merging with the matter, the image is emancipated from the building to which it refers to becoming something else. Vestiges that insist on not fading away altogether. These printed objects, as spatial installations, were conceived to interrupt, occupy, and recover their presence in space as a place of mourning and remembrance. In this way, they propose another relationship with the public that is by no means passive. Interposing themselves in the way, they force people to confront their presence and move around to avoid the exposed rebars that do not let us forget what these images are all about.

In investigating artistic practice, I have always kept myself open to bringing in different external factors to participate in the process. As a result, in repeating these experiments, I did improve the way I executed them; however, due to the mismatched nature of the constructive materials concerning their application in printing intaglio matrices, I never gained complete control of what I was doing. In the materiality of these printed objects, the unpredictability of this process of experimentation is more than evident. It invites us not only to go through these images with our eyes but with our hands and body, finally creating a new model of perception and experience, opening doors to the unknown.