Ruco was born in Rome in 1991 and he has been drawing since he can remember. During high school, he began to take an interest in the world of tattooing and approached thisjob as soon as he finished school. Ruco began tattooing in 2012 in Florence, while studying Art Printing Techniques at the Academy of Fine Arts and he began receiving invitations as a guest in several studios around the world: Mexico, Israel, Honk Hong... His figurative style is the result of numerous influences from the most different fields. The main thread is related to the taste for the grotesque. Passionate about masks, he made them a source of research, producing them by hand. In addition to his own tattoo studio in the heart of Rome, Ruco pursues his other passions in a small private studio where he finds his space to create masks and costumes, model clay, paint, and so on. In 2018 Ruco brought out the research project related to the theme of the tattoo ritual "STILLIFE BRÜCKE" in collaboration with Servadio: 4-handed sessions in which the surrounding environment becomes the subject of the tattoo, whether it is a predefined and static composition or a changing and dynamic situation. In this way, the subject is not previously decided nor born from the imagination of the artists but represents what you have in front of your eyes during the ritual.

The Sambenet or Sanbenito was a penitential robe used during the Spanish Inquisition, worn by heretics and those convicted of religious crimes to publicly show their repentance. The condemned were led barefoot through the streets of the city, wearing the Sambenet and holding a long lit candle. 

The “garment of infamy” consisted of a rectangular cloth with a hole for the head, accompanied by a pointed hat called a Coroza. The cloth was specially painted with themed decorations, including flames and demons.

Ruco revisited the ancient garment, decorating the fabric with motifs recalling the experience of burning and sin. The mirror image elaborated by the artist was screen-printed by 56Fili on a cotton cloth, from which was sewn a garment inspired by the camouflage ponchos of the military tradition, used in armies as hunting robes, temporary makeshift shelters for protection from the elements and widely used in the cavalry corps.

Ruco’s Sambenet is a versatile garment, wearable as a poncho and designed to be laid on a wall, like a tapestry.

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