Italian artist Marco Grassi applies his hyperrealist painting chops to portraits that are slightly unconventional. While he paints mostly young, beautiful female subjects in traditional studio settings, his work becomes remarkable for the surreal accoutrements with which he adorns his characters. In one piece, a model’s back becomes porous with a carved, baroque design — her body hollow like a doll’s. In other paintings, he experiments with colorful body paint, tattoos, fabrics, and even a translucent, shield-like piece of futuristic jewelry. Throughout his portrait series, Grassi uses his skills with oils to create convincing illusions that make it easy for viewers to suspend disbelief.
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Carlos Mendes, who works under the name CIAS, is a painter and tattoo artist with a penchant toward ancient art history. He shared some of his recent work that blends these worlds in the show "Indelible" at Espaco Exibicionista Gallery. Mendes is based in Lisbon, Portugal.
In Filipino artist Ronson Culibrina’s haunting yet vibrant paintings, the artist examines globalization, social issues, and more through both crowded and sparse scenes. The artist is also taking a look at art history inside his home country of the Philippines, as well injecting cross-cultural and Biblical iconography.