Where We Droppin’, Boys?

Where We Droppin’, Boys? is Stefano Riboli’s first solo exhibition at A+B Gallery, bringing together a selection of paintings based on images extracted from the universe of Fortnite. Through painting, the artist removes these digital fragments from their original function, transforming them into suspended landscapes that question the relationship between image, memory, and perception.

The project begins with an apparently simple gesture: the selection of screenshots captured during the replay of gameplay sessions. While in the game these environments are traversed at high speed as functional spaces for survival, in Riboli’s paintings they become places to be observed and inhabited through the gaze. Roads, parking lots, gas stations, and commercial areas emerge as landscapes devoid of human figures yet marked by traces of their presence, conveying the impression of a world suddenly abandoned.

It is precisely this peripheral dimension that Riboli seeks to recover in his work. Through the replay function, the artist returns to places he has already passed through, observing them once the action that had animated them has come to an end. Within this suspended temporality, the image acquires a second life—slower and more contemplative—making it possible to notice details, atmospheres, and qualities of light that would have gone unnoticed during gameplay.

Rather than representing a video game, Riboli’s paintings reflect on the possibility of uncovering new imaginaries within unexpected contexts. By shifting attention from action to backdrop, from scene to setting, the artist restores autonomy to images originally designed to be consumed quickly. Painting thus becomes an instrument of slowing down and sustained observation, capable of transforming a virtual space into a site of contemplation.