Marco Ercoli - Happiness is a warm gun
03
days
07
hours
19
minutes
28
seconds
No bids placed
Catawiki Buyer Protection
Your payment’s safe with us until you receive your object.View details
Trustpilot 4.4 | 129665 reviews
Rated Excellent on Trustpilot.
Contemporary sculpture by Marco Ercoli (2016) titled Happiness is a warm gun, created with paper-layering on carta and measuring 30 x 16 x 5 cm, hand-signed and produced in Italy.
AI-assisted summary
Description from the seller
Marco Ercoli (1986) Italy
Title: Happiness is a warm gun
Technique: Paper-layering
Composition: More than 10,000 sheets of colored paper from the manufacturer, personally selected at 180 g, cut, shaped, and glued individually by hand.
Process: Each sheet follows the millimetric cross-section of the weapon, creating a solid structure that, in density and weight, brings paper back to its origin: wood.
Chromatism: Careful selection of complementary colors juxtaposed to generate a vibrant visual contrast and a strong aesthetic impact.
Year: 2016
Dimensions: 1:1 Python. 357 (30x16x5)
Signature under the stock
Happiness is a warm gun - The Chromatic Oxymoron
Contemporary sculpture entirely handmade at 1:1 scale, faithfully reproducing the sections of the famous Python .357. The work is not merely a model, but the result of an extreme stratification process.
The Architecture of the Paradox: A Genesis of Paper
In an era dominated by digital immediacy and technical reproducibility, this work stands as a monument to zen patience and semantic stratification. The choice to reproduce a Python .357 — an icon of ballistic power and industrial design — through the obsessive accumulation of over 10,000 fragments of paper, transforms the weapon from an instrument of destruction into an object of sculptural meditation.
Formal and Material Analysis
The artist performs an inverse alchemical operation: paper, compressed and glued by hand sheet after sheet, undergoes a physical metamorphosis, returning to the density and resilience of wood, its original essence.
The Technique: Manual cutting of every 1:1 section is not only an exercise in precision but a rite of deconstruction. The artist cuts the weapon not to study its mechanics, but to strip it of its function.
Chromatism and Contrast: The bold use of complementary colors creates an optical vibration that negates the cold monotony of steel, serving as a symbolic armor: colors cover the skeleton of violence.
The Concept: The Oxymoron as Social Mirror
The oxymoron is a detonator capable of revealing the reality and essence of an element that has become a habit, so the heart of the work lies in its intrinsically contradictory nature. A “paper pistol” is, by definition, a functional impossibility. And yet, it is precisely in this martial futility that its critical force resides.
The artist does not place himself on a moral pedestal; he acknowledges and accepts his own contradiction, his participation in this consumption mechanism.
The act of gluing thousands of sheets thus becomes an act of accepting reality, where the fundamental fulcrum is not the solution to conflict but its plastic affirmation.
Critical Judgment
We are confronted with a work that challenges the viewer’s perception. The Python .357, stripped of its lethality, becomes a solid, fragile, and simultaneously heavy object. It is a fierce, yet visually joyful critique of contemporary blindness. The artist succeeds in transforming violence into a chromatic volume, forcing us to reflect on how, in our society, appearance is the only truly loaded weapon left.
Marco Ercoli's works have been presented at the Colasanti auction house:
https://www.colasantiaste.com/it/artisti/marco-ercoli-1327
The artist is listed in Arsvalue’s artist catalog:
https://www.arsvalue.com/en/lots/1278322/marco-ercoli-roma-1986-albero-della-vita
Instagram Page:
https://www.instagram.com/marco__ercoli/
Marco Ercoli
Artistic Curriculum
Awards and Recognitions
2024: Selected among the “222 Artists to invest in 2024,” editorial volume curated by Exibart.
2023 – Gualdo Tadino: Realization of the Palio for the 2023 edition of the “Giochi de le Porte,” presented with a standing ovation at the Monumental Church of San Francesco.
2019 – Isernia: Winner P.A.C.I. Award, Quality Award, Auditorium Città d'Isernia.
2012 – France: Colart scholarship at the Atelier “Plessix-Madeuc.”
2008 – Rome: Winner “MarteLive,” Quality Award, painting section.
Solo Exhibitions
2023 – Gualdo Tadino (PG): “In Your Eyes,” Museal Center - Monumental Church of San Francesco, curated by Cesare Biasini Selvaggi.
2022 – Rome: “Epimetheus,” Galleria 28 Piazza di Pietra, curated by Giorgia Basili.
2021 – Massa Lubrense (NA): “Night,” Art Hotel Villa Fiorella, curated by Giorgia Basili.
2016 – Rome: “7,” Galleria Curva Pura, curated by Serena Di Giovanni.
2010 – Rome: “F(R)ame,” Libreria Einaudi.
2009 – Rome: “Collection of Butterflies.”
2009 – Rome: “Matter and Ego,” Galleria Casina Giustiniani.
Group Exhibitions and Pavilions
2018 – Basel (Switzerland): “Sommerausstellung,” Galerie Eulenspiegel.
2018 – Rome: “Profane liquid, for external use only,” Studio Giga, curated by Bianca Catalano.
2015 – Rome: “Radiate,” TakeawayGallery.
2015 – Fermo: Stripe Festival Art and Architecture.
2015 – Milan: Affordable Art Fair Milano (AAF), Superstudio Più, Stand E5 (White Noise Gallery).
2015 – Rome: “Any Given Post-it,” White Noise Gallery.
2013 – Rome: “First Art Hotel,” Galleria Muciaccia.
2012 – Rome: “Rendez-vous,” Galleria ArtePerOggi.
2012 – France: “Les Atelier du Plessix-Madeuc,” Abbaye St Magloire, Lehon.
2011 – Turin: Venice Biennale, Italian Pavilion.
Installations and Special Projects
2018 – Civitella D'Agliano (VT): “Agora,” Permanent Installation, project 1 Artist 1 Day, Contaminazioni d'Arte.
Marco Ercoli (1986) Italy
Title: Happiness is a warm gun
Technique: Paper-layering
Composition: More than 10,000 sheets of colored paper from the manufacturer, personally selected at 180 g, cut, shaped, and glued individually by hand.
Process: Each sheet follows the millimetric cross-section of the weapon, creating a solid structure that, in density and weight, brings paper back to its origin: wood.
Chromatism: Careful selection of complementary colors juxtaposed to generate a vibrant visual contrast and a strong aesthetic impact.
Year: 2016
Dimensions: 1:1 Python. 357 (30x16x5)
Signature under the stock
Happiness is a warm gun - The Chromatic Oxymoron
Contemporary sculpture entirely handmade at 1:1 scale, faithfully reproducing the sections of the famous Python .357. The work is not merely a model, but the result of an extreme stratification process.
The Architecture of the Paradox: A Genesis of Paper
In an era dominated by digital immediacy and technical reproducibility, this work stands as a monument to zen patience and semantic stratification. The choice to reproduce a Python .357 — an icon of ballistic power and industrial design — through the obsessive accumulation of over 10,000 fragments of paper, transforms the weapon from an instrument of destruction into an object of sculptural meditation.
Formal and Material Analysis
The artist performs an inverse alchemical operation: paper, compressed and glued by hand sheet after sheet, undergoes a physical metamorphosis, returning to the density and resilience of wood, its original essence.
The Technique: Manual cutting of every 1:1 section is not only an exercise in precision but a rite of deconstruction. The artist cuts the weapon not to study its mechanics, but to strip it of its function.
Chromatism and Contrast: The bold use of complementary colors creates an optical vibration that negates the cold monotony of steel, serving as a symbolic armor: colors cover the skeleton of violence.
The Concept: The Oxymoron as Social Mirror
The oxymoron is a detonator capable of revealing the reality and essence of an element that has become a habit, so the heart of the work lies in its intrinsically contradictory nature. A “paper pistol” is, by definition, a functional impossibility. And yet, it is precisely in this martial futility that its critical force resides.
The artist does not place himself on a moral pedestal; he acknowledges and accepts his own contradiction, his participation in this consumption mechanism.
The act of gluing thousands of sheets thus becomes an act of accepting reality, where the fundamental fulcrum is not the solution to conflict but its plastic affirmation.
Critical Judgment
We are confronted with a work that challenges the viewer’s perception. The Python .357, stripped of its lethality, becomes a solid, fragile, and simultaneously heavy object. It is a fierce, yet visually joyful critique of contemporary blindness. The artist succeeds in transforming violence into a chromatic volume, forcing us to reflect on how, in our society, appearance is the only truly loaded weapon left.
Marco Ercoli's works have been presented at the Colasanti auction house:
https://www.colasantiaste.com/it/artisti/marco-ercoli-1327
The artist is listed in Arsvalue’s artist catalog:
https://www.arsvalue.com/en/lots/1278322/marco-ercoli-roma-1986-albero-della-vita
Instagram Page:
https://www.instagram.com/marco__ercoli/
Marco Ercoli
Artistic Curriculum
Awards and Recognitions
2024: Selected among the “222 Artists to invest in 2024,” editorial volume curated by Exibart.
2023 – Gualdo Tadino: Realization of the Palio for the 2023 edition of the “Giochi de le Porte,” presented with a standing ovation at the Monumental Church of San Francesco.
2019 – Isernia: Winner P.A.C.I. Award, Quality Award, Auditorium Città d'Isernia.
2012 – France: Colart scholarship at the Atelier “Plessix-Madeuc.”
2008 – Rome: Winner “MarteLive,” Quality Award, painting section.
Solo Exhibitions
2023 – Gualdo Tadino (PG): “In Your Eyes,” Museal Center - Monumental Church of San Francesco, curated by Cesare Biasini Selvaggi.
2022 – Rome: “Epimetheus,” Galleria 28 Piazza di Pietra, curated by Giorgia Basili.
2021 – Massa Lubrense (NA): “Night,” Art Hotel Villa Fiorella, curated by Giorgia Basili.
2016 – Rome: “7,” Galleria Curva Pura, curated by Serena Di Giovanni.
2010 – Rome: “F(R)ame,” Libreria Einaudi.
2009 – Rome: “Collection of Butterflies.”
2009 – Rome: “Matter and Ego,” Galleria Casina Giustiniani.
Group Exhibitions and Pavilions
2018 – Basel (Switzerland): “Sommerausstellung,” Galerie Eulenspiegel.
2018 – Rome: “Profane liquid, for external use only,” Studio Giga, curated by Bianca Catalano.
2015 – Rome: “Radiate,” TakeawayGallery.
2015 – Fermo: Stripe Festival Art and Architecture.
2015 – Milan: Affordable Art Fair Milano (AAF), Superstudio Più, Stand E5 (White Noise Gallery).
2015 – Rome: “Any Given Post-it,” White Noise Gallery.
2013 – Rome: “First Art Hotel,” Galleria Muciaccia.
2012 – Rome: “Rendez-vous,” Galleria ArtePerOggi.
2012 – France: “Les Atelier du Plessix-Madeuc,” Abbaye St Magloire, Lehon.
2011 – Turin: Venice Biennale, Italian Pavilion.
Installations and Special Projects
2018 – Civitella D'Agliano (VT): “Agora,” Permanent Installation, project 1 Artist 1 Day, Contaminazioni d'Arte.
Details
Era
After 2000
Sold by
Direct from the artist
Country of origin
Italy
Style
Contemporary
Material
Paper
Artist
Marco Ercoli
Title of artwork
Happiness is a warm gun
Signature
Hand signed
Year
2016
Condition
Excellent condition
Height
16 cm
Width
30 cm
Depth
5 cm
Sold by
