Davide Rivalta

Davide Rivalta (b. 1974, Bologna, Italy) is a contemporary sculptor whose practice centers on animal figures cast in bronze and placed in unexpected public settings—courtyards, palaces, and civic buildings. Based in Bologna, where he also teaches sculpture at the Accademia di Belle Arti, Rivalta uses animals as subjects to confront viewers with themes of freedom and captivity, instinct and domestication, and the uneasy coexistence of nature and culture.

Rivalta’s interest in animal portraiture is not symbolic or general. Rather than depicting archetypes, he creates works based on individual animals he observes and photographs in captivity—rendering each with distinctive character traits and mannerisms. “Not a bear, a wolf, a rhinoceros,” he notes, “but this bear, this wolf, this rhinoceros.” His expressive handling of surface—achieved through gestural modeling—lends his sculptures a physical intensity and inner life rarely seen in public art.

His career was launched in 1998, when he won a competition to install six over-sized gorilla sculptures in the courtyard of the Ravenna courthouse. This breakthrough led to numerous public commissions throughout Italy and Europe, with permanent installations in cities across France, Switzerland, and Italy, including in Rome, Neuchâtel, and Gstaad.

Working across sculpture, drawing, and painting, Rivalta’s practice balances formal rigor with emotive power. Whether standing alone in a city square or clustered in a historical fortress, his animals invite contemplation, confrontation, and empathy.

He has exhibited in major exhibitions and public art initiatives, including the Aichi Triennale (Nagoya, 2010), Arte alle Corti (Turin, 2016), and the Triennale di Milano (2019). His works form part of an ongoing inquiry into how the animal presence can reframe human space—and, in doing so, reawaken a primal awareness in its viewers.