Through vivid colours and brazenly cut-out figures, Giuseppe Veneziano paints reality with a touch of madness, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary
Giuseppe Veneziano is an ancient art philologist with a passion for comics, an ironic storyteller and a playful witness of reality. He focuses on history, political, social, television and artistic reporting, as well as painting. His artistic technique involves bright colours, cut-out characters on uniform 'green screen' movie backgrounds, and surreal combinations. He uses shades of ultramarine blue, magenta and fuchsia.
His 'new-pop' representation derives from American Pop-Art (especially Roy Lichtenstein) in both illustration and subject matter, and draws on the compositional metaphysics of Salvador Dali. Venetian is accustomed to controversy for his works, which range from the depiction of Bin Laden and Cattelan on 'Flash Art' in 2004 to the decapitated depiction of Oriana Fallaci in 2006, and even a Madonna and Child interpreted by Hitler in 2010. His masked 'reality' show presents Western icons in provocative situations, exploring sex, power, appearance and fleeting myths. His portrayed subjects include Garibaldi, Charlie Chaplin, Lady Gaga, Carla Bruni and other famous figures, often in bizarre situations. His exhibition at the Contini Gallery in Venice presents a variety of subjects from his painting production, together with a 270 cm painted bronze sculpture of David with McDonald's clown head as a trophy. In short, Veneziano depicts reality transfigured into timeless images, challenging conventions and provoking discussion.
