Italian artist Gabriele Pellerone’s innovative works shatter the boundaries of contemporary painting techniques. Utilizing silicone rubber as his canvas, the artist composes his works with a tattoo machine and needles, thus introducing a cutting-edge form of painting that has been recognized and exhibited at the 57th Venice Biennale. His illustrious oeuvre marries realism with fantasy, often combining themes inspired by mythology, the Renaissance, and pop culture. Additionally, the artist encourages his audience to reach out and touch his paintings, so that they may identify the highly textural component that accompanies his technique.
In large-scale works such as Liberazione (2017), we observe a woman in various states of existence. To the left of the composition, her countenance gazes at the audience in stoic repose, her eyes narrowed towards the viewer. As she watches the viewer, her hair gradually transforms into wayward strips of linen, held together by a depiction of the same woman that appears to lithely dance on her tiptoes. In the background, we see two other versions of this woman; one hides under the sheets, her head bowed and eyes closed, and in the far right corner we see an image of the subject unapologetically screaming. In lower right corner of the painting, a cerulean jaguar crouches under the fabric, as if about to leap from the shadows towards the viewer. The artist currently resides in Italy.
