Ma quanto sei bello

Costa Rican artist Marco Battaglini uses his artwork to explore the evolution of culture and knowledge. In some works, he combines classical paintings with modern pop-art references and graffiti for a modern renaissance look.  While the imagery appears almost collaged at first glance, looking at the paintings I find subtle details that really add to the ideas behind the pieces, like finding brand names tattooed on the cherubic figures that frequent these scenes.

I Think Therefore I am Dangerous, collage

I really like the way that Battaglini manages to combine extreme examples of both high and low-brow art to create something that’s in between the two. These works are thoughtful and contain enough conceptual depth to please a gallery owner, but also have a great deal of purely aesthetic appeal.

Battaglini also looks directly at thought processes, in some works using imagery of the human brain as a motif, particularly in his 2010 exhibition I Think Therefore I Am Dangerous, wherein the brain stands in for many different symbols of power, violence and money.

Immortality