“I think the Hamptons has historically been a refuge of peace and silence for some of the most talented artists in New York,” shares East Hampton sculptor Franco Cuttica [above].  “Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Eric Fischl, David Salle, John Chamberlain….the list goes on.  As a young artist, I can see why they came here.”  You may have seen one of Franco’s hauntingly beautiful driftwood horse sculptures gracefully set on a sprawling Hamptons estate, greeting locals at the EECO farm stand, or living on the lawn of his family home on Newtown Lane.  Franco shares the inspiration behind his work in this NEW KDHamptons Featured Artist Diary, below:  

KDHamptons: How long have you been living in the Hamptons? Why do you love it so much out here?

Franco Cuttica: I am originally from Argentina, but moved to the United States when I was 5 years old. I have been living in the Hamptons the last ten years. The original reason for moving here was to attend the Ross School, but I stayed beyond after graduating for many reasons. I draw a lot of inspiration from the unique Long Island light, the nature, and the bucolic traditional architecture. There is an intangible, but strong spiritual force here which I draw upon for my work.

Franco burned a piano in an exciting performance art piece in the Hamptons

KDHamptons: How would you describe yourself as an artist?

Franco: I studied Architecture at Pratt and Cooper Union to learn draftsmanship and building technology in order to apply it to sculpture.  I get a physical pleasure from working with organic materials and building things.  It is almost a childlike joy, as if playing with legos.  I work full time with sculpture.  My main medium is driftwood and I work with two assistants at a time because I think art is a collaborative practice like music.  I also do photography performance art. Last summer, I found a broken baby grand piano, we took it to the beach at dawn to light it on fire and took some beautiful pictures.  Afterwards, I found out that the piano was very rare and worth a lot of money.  I kept it because I still found it very beautiful.  After some time, spring came around and I could not help but be influenced by it.  I decided to convert the burnt baby grand into a mini-garden with all kinds of flowers and herbs and called it “Life is Music”. 

KDHamptons: What inspired you to create the driftwood horses?

Franco:  The idea for making the driftwood horses originally came as a gift that me and my brother made to give to his first girlfriend Sarah Bartges.  Unfortunately, she broke up with him two days before we finished.  My brother wanted to destroy it as an effigy, but I convinced him to save it.  After two weeks we sold it.  My brother has moved on to make paintings, but I continue to make a wide variety of commissioned driftwood sculptures but mostly driftwood life-sized horses.

The driftwood itself is artwork in itself.  Conceived by the greatest artist, mother nature.  My role as an artist is to create a final extension of her process by the hand of man.  So really it’s a collaboration of man.  I have shown the driftwood to an herbologist, and he told me that some of it comes from as far as Africa.  I think that journey is evident in every piece of wood and it is interesting to think about when you see the horses.

KDHamptons: Please describe your perfect Hamptons day?

Franco: I wake up 7AM and do a ten min meditation followed by a workout. Then drive in my plugin Prius to Estia’s Little Kitchen in Sag Harbor and have the crab and eggs and read a little Henry David Thoreau.  I come back to my studio and do three hours of work on the horses, two hours of work on my tree house and my wood fired hot tub.  I’m also learning to start and plant an organic garden. Then I would hitch my thirteen foot Boston Whaler and drive to Barcelona Neck off of Cedar Point, fish and catch the sunset. After which I would come home, fire up an Asado [Argentine BBQ], and jam with my funk reggae band lead by the best drummer and philosopher of all time Ken Sax.  Later on, I might go to Meeting House restaurant in Amagansett and have a Jameson with a Milanesa, that sounds like a pretty good day….

A Carne Asada, Cuttica style.

KDHamptons: What is your favorite Hamptons restaurant? 

Franco: My favorite Hamptons restaurant is Breadzilla.  I get the Zilla melt with tomato and onions or the chicken po boy…one of my horses is displayed there thanks to co-owner Nancy Thompson [below].  She is awesome and hooks it up.

Nancy with her horse outside of Breadzilla in Wainscott.

KDHamptons:  How would you describe your Hamptons home and decorating style?

Franco: I live in an prewar two story home on Newtown Lane that has the privilege of a large property, which is rare so close to town.  I love being surrounded by nature.  What’s nice about the house is that it has the character that can only be inherited after many years.  We have a unconventional decorating style. When you enter, it is unmistakably an artist’s residence − really the house is more like a large studio.  Each wall is painted a different unique color with a healing vibration, and on every wall you can find an art piece or an artifact from my career or the career of my father or brother who are also artists.  I have over 20 horses, and over the summer they are displayed in my back yard.  All of my furniture is hand built from found objects and driftwood.  It took us many years to decorate the house, but I think it has personality that is priceless.

A family of artists:  Franco with his father Eugenio, and his brother Lautaro.

KDHamptons:  Can you share any exciting new sculpture projects you are working on?

Franco: I have many projects lined up.  I am considering branching off towards abstract sculptures with drift wood, which I think will be an interesting compliment to the organic nature of the material and a good contrast to the horses, and I am thinking of making more flame works on the beach.

KDHamptons: How would you describe the people who collect your work?

Franco: I think that collectors are invaluable for art and artists in order for them to work full time.  I think it takes a certain amount of courage and stoicism to spend the amount of money that it would take to buy a car and spend it on a work of art that really has no utilitarian value, but has a certain personal value that speaks to them.  I think a lot of my collectors are really artists deep down, and collecting my work is a really generous expression of that.  In this day and age where everything has a economic purpose, and we measure everything in dollars and cents, its refreshing to know that there are people that don’t measure things only in a utilitarian nature.

* For more information please go to www.francocuttica.com