When we think pigeon, we’re much more likely to think crumb-begging rat with wings than million-dollar luxury art.

From Damien Hirst to Dior, DotPigeon’s balaclava-covered protagonist is a painted mini-me, his ‘artsy alter ego’. The character is seen decked out in streetwear’s most coveted garms, surrounded by tasteful and lavish interiors with the works of blue chip artist’s displayed on the walls.

As serene as this setting sounds, there’s a stirring underneath. Smashed windows and a hammer in hand, DotPigeon’s balaclava guy series is fittingly named, We all have a rioter inside our walls.

To what extent do you identify with balaclava guy? Has this identification become more prevalent since the success of your work?

The balaclava guy is my artsy alter ego, it’s the projection of what I feel but at the same time everyone can relate to him. Everyone has a balaclava guy inside. He represents those feelings that cannot be publicly expressed because of social conventions, because those feelings are improper and inconvenient. It’s our relief valve. At the very beginning of my art path in 2017 the balaclava guy did not exist, and my face and identity were shown out in the open. When he was born, I immediately felt a strong connection and I’ve decided to show myself wearing a balaclava also in real life. Lately I found myself thinking about if and how long I will continue to wear the balaclava in real life also.

For your piece, Nothing beats a gang, you have said the art work will go through 7 levels of vandalization/evolution. What provoked the decision to turn the selling process into these various levels?

Yes, the artwork is dynamic, and it evolves based on the resale price. The idea came out last summer, I really wanted to dive into what I could have done by using the technology, instead of “just” mint an artwork. It was the time of the Great Depression of NFTs. Everything was sold under price, I remember a Beeple sold for 18K so I came up with the idea of making an artwork that would have reflected the resell price. It would have evolved when the price would have gone up and it would have regressed when the price would have gone down. So, nobody could have devalued it. I mean, for getting a level 3 you need to buy it in a certain price range, there’s no way to escape this. If you have a level 3 and sell it for 1K the new buyer would get a level 1. In addition to this I really wanted to celebrate communities. In my mind, it would not have been easy to make the artwork evolve to level 7, unless people went together (with a DAO or whatever they want) and actually bought it together. That’s why the artwork has not 1 but 3 balaclava guys inside of it.

You have also spoke about a sense of community in relation to your piece, Nothing beats a gang. What does community mean to you?

Community for me has been, and still is, everything. I probably did a good job and I have also been lucky to create the community that surrounds me. Thanks to those people and their raids into Nifty Gateway discord server I had the chance to have a solo day drop back in June. Again, thanks to them, that drop was super successful even in a moment of down, my discord Mad Rabbits Riot Club were born. A member of my community created an NFT set of cards for the most active players, they run giveaways, they print stickers and so on. I owe so much to them, and I’ve tried to celebrate and involve them in some of my artworks (Shut up and fill these shelves and Nothing beats a gang for example).

What is the significance of the subject, balaclava guy, in wearing designer clothing?

Outfits of the balaclava guy have a double purpose: the first one is to make the character more aspirational, the second one is to increase the contrast between the look and feel of the composition and how he acts inside of these mansions.

The protagonists, whose appearance suggests vandalization, could create a sense of unease for viewers to see him in such lavish settings, surrounded by millions of dollars’ worth of possessions. Was this affect intentional? If so, why?

Absolutely. The whole meaning of my artworks resides in this contrast. These houses with always clear skies, polished, with classy furniture and decorations and with blue chip artist paintings on the walls, represent the beautiful part of us, the one we decide to show to other people every day. Co-workers, friends and even family. But there’s one side of us, a darker one, that we constantly hide inside of us. And this side is represented by the balaclava guy. In those houses, finally, he’s free to express himself as he wants, he gets drunk, he vandalizes, he lets rage overwhelm him and so on.

What tend to be the main sources of inspiration for your work?

Usually rage. Things easily bother me. My artistic career was born in 2017 while I was a full time art director in an advertising agency, and I was very frustrated. I used to have a lot of creativity inside that was always oppressed and wasn’t expressed at its best because of clients constrains or because my boss didn’t believe in my ideas and stuff like this. There were MANY times in which I would have liked to have yelled at them, expressing my “disappointment”, but obviously I didn’t because I still loved that job and I couldn’t afford to lose it anyways. All those moments were the fuel of my art. Today I have no boss or clients to yell at but still have different moments of rage/delusion/frustration that fuel my creativity.

The title of your piece, Dear art curator, fuck you, is pretty suggestive. Does this encapsulate your own opinions towards the often elitist industry?

At that time, I applied to a couple big galleries and to be published in a book about emerging artists. I was rejected by all 3 and decided to dedicate an artwork to them :).