His work comes to live around the concept of “Born Wild”, aiming to transform negative impulses towards animals into a positive sentiment with savagery and beauty. “Savage animal violence is astutely used. Contrary to that of men, often uselessly used for wars or murders.” His animals, made with a brush hook, tend to magnify reality with attention to perfection. Their proportions are sometimes modified to accentuate their ferocity, their strength, or their majesty, an emotion that is reinforced by the powerful colors of his works or by their often monumental size. The simplified shapes of the subject erase all details so that the animal becomes but a multitude of smooth facets or a complex metallic lacework.
Giving much importance to the spectator’s vision, Richard Orlinski says that he sculpts “to sublime reality and create living, beautiful, and timeless works of art that kindle emotions in the eyes of the other.” It seems he would tend to achieve this goal since the artist, whose works are on display in a variety of locations such as public spaces, “loves the idea of being able to bring the museum to the spectators,” and the artist says he wants “to break the rules” so that his work “is accessible, including with young people who can buy my miniature sculptures for a few hundred Euros. Art has no borders.” This is how his creations are able to reach a very wide audience, from art connoisseurs to amazed children with clients like Sharon Stone, Rihanna, Harrison Ford, and David Guetta in between.
Lately, it was ex-Beatle Paul McCartney’s turn to cave to one of his pieces. Richard Orlinski himself handed over this creation, that was none other than a guitar. Collectors are also scrambling for his works, such as billionaire Richard Branson or an Italian collector who invested 10 million Euros for a pin-up coming out of the mouth of a giant gold crocodile, a record for the artist. The prices for his works at auction are often exorbitant; a gold and diamond panther was purchased for 680,000 Euros by a private client. The artist is artistically invested in humanitarian causes and participates in a number of charity auctions, such as in 2014 when 30-40 works from the renowned artist were sold at auction at Christie’s for the organization “La Chaîne de l’Espoir”. During a charity soirée that brought together The Global Gift Foundation, Unicef, and The Eva Longoria Foundation, Richard Orlinski put up artworks for sale for a good cause and saw a panther sculpture sell for 18,000 Euros.
Leave a Reply