D'ORO D'ART
THE GODDESS
50.000,00 €
The Goddess – Ancient Myth and Pop Imagination
The Goddess, created by Federico Solmi for the project The Grand Voyage, appears magnificently disguised as Cleopatra, immersed in a strikingly contemporary setting where pop culture merges with glowing echoes of the past.
Within this hybrid, theatrical scenario, the work stages a visual dialogue between modern icons and the original essence of myth, unveiling the ambiguous and ever-evolving nature of fame in the digital age.
CONTACT US FOR INFORMATION:
e-mail: info@dorocollection.com
phone: +39.349.74.12.852
The Goddess is Federico Solmi’s contemporary reinterpretation of the mythological feminine archetype, created for The Grand Voyage project by D’ORO D’ART. In this video-artwork, Solmi invents a goddess for our times — a radiant symbol of vanity and media-driven power, suspended between timelessness and pop culture.
Wrapped in a seductive and supernatural aura, The Goddess emerges in an animated scene with her face partly concealed, enhancing the enigmatic allure of her image. Behind her, a lavish Byzantine mosaic unfolds — an unexpected aesthetic layer that heightens the narrative tone and removes the figure from any ordinary context, casting her into an almost sacred dimension.
The video invites the viewer to reflect on the role of female icons in today’s visual culture, where mythology and celebrity fuse into new digital archetypes. The Goddess is at once a mythic figure and a cultural product — a symbol of the transformation of fame and the constant overlap between reality and imagination.
Through this visual reflection, Solmi both celebrates and questions the power of images and the mutable nature of fame. His goddess is not bound to any one place or era — she exists everywhere. The collective obsession with the icon takes form.
The book itself is an integral part of the artwork: a handcrafted and technological reliquary, combining gilded frames, hand-bound covers, painting, and a built-in LCD screen designed for long-term durability. The video is activated by invisible sensors and responds to the act of opening and closing the book.
Each volume in the D’ORO D’ART series signed by Federico Solmi features three covers: two in 24-karat gold, and one — the front — painted by the artist himself. This dual creative gesture bridges the tactile materiality of painting with the digital world of video art, merging physical and virtual imagination.
The Grand Voyage consists of three distinct works: The Goddess, The Wizard, and The Wanderer.
In each, Solmi invents hybrid characters dressed in anachronistic costumes and trapped in digital loops that recount mythical, surreal stories through a contemporary lens. Between painting and 3D animation, these figures journey through a timeless space where history, irony, and imagination collide, dissolving the boundaries between physical reality and digital myth.
D’ORO D’ART original painting created in acrylic on the front cover. The remaining two covers are crafted in aluminium and 24-karat gold.
Closed Book Sizes (cm): 38 x 56.8 x 7.5
D’ORO D’ART Project
In today’s landscape of contemporary art—where technology continuously reshapes languages and formats—D’ORO D’ART emerges as a visionary initiative, merging the excellence of Italian artisanal bookmaking with the power of international video art.
Conceived by Salvatore Giorgio Dino, founder and CEO of D’ORO Collection, D’ORO D’ART introduces a new kind of book-object: a work to be leafed through and activated, where visual storytelling comes to life through an embedded video that plays upon opening the cover. The project employs advanced technologies—including LCD screens and a long-life playback system—in which the audio-visual file becomes an integral and unalterable part of the work.
Leading this encounter between publishing and electronic art are Barbara London, founder of the video art department at MoMA New York, and Valentino Catricalà, an internationally renowned Italian curator and scholar specialising in the intersection of contemporary art and technology. Since 2019, the two have curated a programme that affirms video art as a critical, political and deeply emotional medium.
The project was inaugurated by Dara Birnbaum, a pioneering figure in video art who has radically transformed the way we perceive images in media. For D’ORO D’ART, Birnbaum reinterpreted her three-channel video Arabesque (2011), adapting it into a monographic format. The work reflects on the artistic and emotional relationship between Robert and Clara Schumann, weaving together archive material, musical performance and film excerpts from the 1947 film Song of Love. The result is an intimate and layered composition that explores the dialogue between sound, image and memory.
The conceptual delicacy of the piece resonates with the refined structure of D’ORO Collection’s handcrafted volumes, with the project being launched by Marian Goodman Gallery in the prestigious setting of Art Basel Miami.
In 2023, D’ORO D’ART initiated a new collaboration with artist Federico Solmi, broadening its scope through The Grand Voyage—a series divided into three thematic cycles, each composed of three artist’s books. The series continues to explore the frontiers of visual art, multimedia narrative and the book as sculptural object, expanding the expressive range of the collection.
D’ORO D’ART is a statement of intent: not just a new way of conceiving art publishing, but a true laboratory of form, where time, image and matter converge to forge a language that speaks to the present while preserving the memory of our age.
“I have always dreamed of creating a "transcendental" book capable of addressing every individual in the world, overcoming all language barriers: I knew art could be the universal key to this challenge. And making the first handmade book in history that features digital art inside was the revolution that only D'ORO could imagine… ”
Salvatore Giorgio Dino
Each D’ORO Collection volume is shipped following precise rules which preserve its value.
After the quality checks, the book – protected by its case or by shock-absorbing pads – is positioned inside the Book Box with its certificate of authenticity and warranty.
The Book Box – a true design piece – is wrapped in protective paper and shipped inside a robust cardboard box specially developed to optimally safeguard the book during the shipment.
The parcel is then sealed and handed over to selected forwarders for rapid insured air shipment.
