Remember, human, that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Ashes to Ashes is a photographic sculpture reflecting on the concept of memento mori. It appears as a black box, a tribute to the spirituality of Malevich’s Black Square (1915): a gateway to infinity and the absolute. It is a small altar of memory, exploring the fleeting nature of remembrance.
Memory exists only when a flame is lit, revealing a fragment: my father’s face. The box’s position resembles a tomb or a coffin. When the flame goes out, the memory fades into oblivion.
The process of revealing the image is reminiscent of a darkroom, while the box evokes a photographic frame.
Riccardo Androni (Bergamo, 1996) explores the fragility of human nature through photography, video, and performance, mediums he uses to investigate the intrinsic meaning of reality. Sensitive to
themes of death and impermanence, and fascinated by the unknown, his often metaphorical works delve into the depths of the psyche to uncover the vulnerability that defines us as human beings. After studying photography at LABA in Florence, he completed a year of specialization in MOVIES - Moving Images Arts at IUAV in Venice. He later spent a year as an artist-in-residence at FABRICA, a research center in Treviso, and six months as a photographer for the Benetton Group. Currently based in Lausanne, where he completed a Master’s degree in Photography at ECAL.
His works have been featured in events like the Biennale of Young Italian Photographers and showcased at Portfolio Italia and Palazzetto Tito in Venice. Notable exhibitions include DEBRIS, curated by Peter Welz; HERE BECOMES ELSEWHERE, curated by Carlos Casas; and VENEZIA FABRICA FUTURA at the Complesso dell’Ospedaletto.
He won 2nd prize at the XXII FotoConfronti and was featured in Corriere della Sera. Recently, he exhibited at DER VIERTE RAUM at Frappant Galerie, sold works at Offprint London at the Tate Museum, and participated in WE DO THE REST in collaboration with the Biennale dell’Immagine, Les Rencontres d’Arles, and Swiss Photomonth. His latest exhibition, CO-EXISTENCE, curated by Milo Keller, was showcased during Paris Photo.
In 2025, he was awarded the Special Prize at the Combat Prize and exhibited at the VI Biennale di Genova.