Mario Soria’s Incredible Paintings

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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.

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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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Animal Landing – A Whimsical Series of Artworks by Mr. Klevra

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Animal Landing’ is a series of whimsical, but richly-symbolic artworks by Italian artist Mr. Klevra, which was recently exhibited at the Dorothy Circus Gallery, in Rome, Italy.

The artist has carefully chosen his animal subjects for their unique characteristics, or rather for what they represent to human beings. This modern day Noah’s ark of animal astronauts have landed on the moon, accompanied by things that we subconsciously associate them with in our minds. The animals have transformed the pallid grey environment of the moon into the Garden of Eden with their bright colors. They are free to adapt, to learn and to create, far away from a world of hate.

Mr.Klevra was born in Rome, where he currently lives and works. While he started out as a street artist, he is equally at ease creating art using classical painting techniques, for which he credits his completion of an art course in Byzantine iconography. A man of many artistic talents, he also recently designed this custom Mickey Mouse vinyl toy for the Disney Expo in Singapore.

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Link to Mr.Klevra’s site.

Hit the jump to check out the rest of the paintings and a sculpture from the ‘Animal Landing’ series.

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Band of Skulls’ Emma Richardson’s First Solo Art Show

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Emma Richardson, bassist and vocalist in alt rock group Band of Skulls, is also, as it turns out, a very talented artist and painter. Her first first solo exhibition, Cruisin’ For A Bruisin’, is currently on display at the Londonewcastle Project Space in London.

The large scale oil paintings, she says, were created in response to the band’s music, and were also hugely influenced by the works of Cy Twombly and Lucian Freud.

The exhibition consists of two groups of works, corresponding to the first two albums
by Band Of Skulls. The first series formed the artwork for their debut album, released in 2009, when Richardson’s paintings were photographed and then digitally manipulated to create the cover.

The process was extended and developed for their forthcoming second album, for which Richardson worked with the designer Vincent Toi and the creative team at The PHI Centre in Montreal, Canada, who by turn enlisted glass artists Cédric Ginart and Karina Guevin to make a glass sculpture inspired by Richardson’s paintings. The resulting collaboration was photographed and became the cover image for the album.

This month will also see the release of the band’s much-anticipated second album, Sweet Sour. ‘Cruisin’ For A Bruisin’ will be on display till 12th February, 2012. Click here for more details on the show.

Check out more images after the jump.

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The Fantastically-Surreal Art of Rafael Silveira

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It was quite a difficult task for me to pick only a few select images from Rafael Silveira’s portfolio. His paintings and illustrations are that good!

A lot of his works are phantasmagorical in nature. His acrylic and oil paintings, he says, “mixes a classical atmosphera with contemporary techniques and subjects.” And indeed, popular cartoon characters rub shoulders with pin-up-esque femme fatales, and his subjects exist in a lush, symbolically-rich world of their own.

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Rafael Silveira lives and works in Curitiba, Brazil. You can buy original artworks and prints at his online store.

Link to his site.

Hit the jump to check out some must-see artwork by the artist.

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Kim Gordon’s Paintings on Wood

Gorgeous mixed media paintings by Kim Gordon, a New York based-artist.

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Maria Full Of Grace, Acrylic and Graphite on Wood, 11 x 14 inches.

Kim says:

I’m born, raised…and currently reside in New York. I work primarily with acrylics and graphite on wood. With every piece I try to balance the paint, pencil and wood so that each plays off the other with just the right feel. The wood grain, being a natural element, tells you how it wants to be seen. I let it lead me. I get to a good place with each piece, like the elements and I worked together as a team. I don’t know if I could ever go back to canvas!

Check out more artwork after the jump.

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