BATTAGLINI

The work of Marco Battaglini (born in Verona, Italy, 1969), echoes the anxiety inherent in western society of the twenty-first century. The work of this artist makes aware of an aesthetic shock: his style full of eclecticism with a touch of humor, makes the viewer smile but is deep down asking questions about the dogma that underlies the current artistic and social scenes. The factor that makes the Italian artist Marco Battaglini unique, is probably the capacity of conceptualizing the possible coexistence of the ideal of classic beauty with the contemporary urban aesthetics, the combination of the divine and refined with vulgar, trough a composition capable of integrating different realities in an 'eternal instant'. In this re-contextualization, classic paintings are combined with elements of pop culture and urban art. Each of Battaglini’s works offers a series of details that allow the spectator to gradually discover new meanings with a careful reading and a reflection on the dissolution by art of the barriers of time and space. Upon reflection of Battaglini’s work, we observe that his paintings offer a number of different readings, due to the variety of references contained therein. The artist achieves this not only by transporting classic works to the present day, but also by combining them with graffiti, symbols related to Western culture, and elements of pop art, creating a harmonic mix that forces us to reconsider corresponding values and the reality in which we live. He lays bare the influence of consumerism on our way of living and thinking, referring not just to consumption of products, but also of the images, icons, and symbols that make up the fabric of our culture, our collective imagination, and our lives.