Barcelona-born artist Mario Soria is something of a genius, an autodidactic who taught himself by observing and studying the works of Velazquez, Bosch, Rembrandt and Leonardo Da Vinci. His paintings and artworks are a surprisingly heady and potent mix of American pop art, European surrealism, and traditional art.

A lot of Mario’s works feature celebrity/cultural icons, who have been placed in settings that may seem incongruous to the eye of the casual observer, but reveal much more about the subject on deeper introspection.

Mario, on his paintings:

I develop a central idea and it starts to grow while I paint on it. I let the painting “talk” to me and then more ideas come during its process. My paintings are thought to be seeing from regular distance and closer distance where people can “read” two different paintings in one, I mean, from regular distance people could see a still life, but from a closer distance can observed little characters telling their own story making of still life elements their scenery. I like to play with canvas laterals, I put legos, smashed soda cans, colour pencils, or just paint on them. I am always working, I paint everyday, from Monday to Sunday, day and night, usually in two or more paintings at the same time.

Currently, Mario is close to finishing an actual size reproduction of “Las Meninas,” the famous painting by Diego Velázquez. Mario says that he has been working on the painting since 2006, and adds that it will carry his own personal touch.

Link to Mario Soria’s site.

Please check out a few select paintings from his portfolio, after the jump.

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