Daniele Cucchi

There are paths that seem to be written before we even begin walking them. Mine, perhaps, was born from a contradiction.

At school, the subject I struggled with the most—alongside mathematics—was Art History. Back then, I didn’t draw, I didn’t paint, and I never visited museums. The subjects that truly fascinated me were Philosophy, History, and Literature. I was drawn to ideas, to questions, to the ways human beings try to make sense of their existence.

My only connection to color came through spray paint.

Together with a group of friends, I spent my time in abandoned schools, forgotten farmhouses, and on walls worn down by time. We were not searching for beauty, nor were we trying to leave something behind that would last forever. Painting was simply the most natural way I knew to quiet the noise of the world. It was a free, instinctive, almost meditative act. Only much later did I realize that those moments had been my very first genuine dialogue with art.

The name Antrum was born from that dialogue.

It comes from Latin and means cave, a direct reference to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. It is an image that has stayed with me throughout my life: people who see only shadows, convinced they are reality, until someone finds the...

- Young international contest of contemporary art (YICCA) 2025.
- Fondazione Amedeo Modigliani Art Competition 2025.
- Roccart Gallery in Florence "Mostra Tracce".