MARCO REA

Born in Rome in 1975, he is currently one of the most representative artists of the lowbrow \ pop surrealist movement. His works, made with spray cans, are the result of the reinterpretation of already existing images, altered until they reveal a secret, dark and melancholic soul. Using the spray painting technique on billboards and posters, sinister creatures emerge from a glossy image, created specifically to sell a certain type of item and stimulate the desire to consume, a typical characteristic of mass culture products.
Once the product is removed, the atmosphere changes completely, the subject bends to his will, and becomes something else. His favorite models are women, lost in their intimacy, caught in their mental spaces.

“When a master wears a mask, this does not mean that he puts his mask on his face, but it means that he puts his spirit into the mask.” Years ago I read this sentence and was struck by it: in general we are led to think that by wearing a mask our being is annulled, while in reality our true essence, our soul, emerges. Through the mask the creatures of my works do not hide but reveal themselves.”

His artistic inspirations come from the observation of the works of Bacon, Schiele, Witkin, Bellmer. His art expresses a strong emotional personality, his faces detach themselves from the reality in which they are inserted and materialize in an empty silence full of anxiety and restlessness.