Description

This work of Jean-Philippe Ghiglione depicts a cockfight in the artist's characteristic Abstract Expressionist style. Painted with a palette knife and great energy, the composition captures the intense movement and dramatic tension of the confrontation.

The subject depicts two roosters facing off, frozen in a fighting posture, almost symmetrical, but each retaining its own dynamic. The color palette is vivid and contrasting, dominated by warm tones—red, orange, yellow—that evoke combativeness and vitality, and dark tones—black, gray, touches of white—that accentuate confrontation and strength.

The knife strokes are powerful and edgy. The impasto adds substance to the feathers and conveys the violence and brilliance of the duel. The almost blank white background highlights the roosters' movement and focuses the eye on the central scene, without distraction.

This cockfight goes beyond the animal anecdote to become a metaphor for duality, rivalry, and even controlled chaos. The pictorial gesture evokes struggle, instinct, and the immediacy of the clash.

Jean-Philippe Ghiglione's signature, visible at the bottom right, anchors the work in its artistic identity, mixing abstraction, gestural energy and strong symbolism.