Our ancient mythology tells stories about heroes in human form but with superhuman powers. Today, those heroes have been replaced by celebrities, who are quite ordinary, but they are hyped and promoted so much by mass media that they take on mythical proportions in the collective imagination. Italian artist Luca Valentini explores the reality behind these myths in his first exhibition in Dubai, “Our Myths”.
The artist has used a variety of symbols from pop culture such as images of celebrities from various fields, references to well-known magazines and newspapers that drive public opinion, and popular comic book characters, as well as a good dose of humour and irony to create satirical artworks that present his perspective on modern society.
Valentini has combined different techniques, media and styles to design artworks that look like the covers of magazines, often with names such as “Vogue”, “GQ”, “Forbes”, “Time”, “Rolling Stone” and “Interview” providing the context of the topic being addressed. Featured on these covers are his expressionist portraits of famous people and pop characters. Executed in black and white with a knife, these portraits provide a glimpse of the reality behind their glossy public personas.
The portraits are surrounded by carefully selected cuttings from newspapers and colourful comic strips collaged on to the canvas, adding new layers to the narrative. The final flourish is a humorous and thought-provoking message stencilled on to the canvas in typical street art style. The result is a series of vibrant, fun and universally relatable artworks that invite viewers not only to laugh at the quirky realities of modern life, but also to think about and question the systems and structures of our contemporary society.
“We are constantly bombarded with glossy images of perfection in magazines and advertisements. I want to change the meaning of these pictures. My backgrounds are raw and the colour contrasts highlight the flaws and imperfections, because we are not perfect. I always paint the portraits in black and white because I want to freeze the images in a timeless moment. The contrast with the coloured backgrounds adds vitality to the compositions, playing with the idea that in life what you can see clearly may not be real, while the reality lies hidden in the background,” Valentini says.
The paintings deal with social, political and economic issues of our times. Valentini questions the idealised images used to market brands by tweaking an advertisement featuring actress Charlize Theron to depict her as a plastic Barbie doll with a heart that pumps a perfume she endorses rather than blood. He has put a mask on his portrait of Barack Obama to highlight the fact that despite him being awarded the Noble Peace Prize, the US has been involved in several conflicts during his presidency.
The artist looks at the darkness behind the glamour of stardom with a portrait of Rihanna, showing the physical abuse she has endured in her relationship on one side of the face and a smile on the other; and a sad, weary fairy Tinkerbell helplessly looking at the unravelling of Michael Jackson’s fairy-tale life. His portrait of Marilyn Monroe speaks about how the actress has become a victim of her own myth. “Her glamorous image is used to sell myriad products that have made many people very rich, but nobody cares about her tragic life,” he says.
In some of the portraits Valentini has shown one half of the face as a skull. “The skull is not about death. It is about life and about showing the human side of the glamorous, seemingly perfect stars. Whether it is Madonna, Kate Moss or Brad Pitt, beneath the surface of the skin we are all the same,” he says.
In another set of portraits of real and fictional leaders, he has made one half of the face look like a crumbling marble statue. “In ancient Greece statues were made to commemorate people that were respected by the community for their character and their contribution to society. But today those values and ethics are crumbling because we have leaders who only care about manipulating others to fulfil their greed for power and money,” the artist says. This feeling is also expressed in a portrait of Superman with the ‘S’ in the logo transformed into a dollar sign and the message ‘Money is my Kryptonite’. “Capitalism corrupts everyone, including superheroes,” Valentini says.
The show also includes a series of portraits of cultural icons such as Jean Michel Basquiat, Elvis Presley, Charlie Chaplin and Samuel Beckett sticking their tongue out at the system in an angry reaction to where our society is heading.
Another stark reminder of the darkness in our society is “Freaky Mickey”, a portrait of Mickey Mouse with his smiling face replaced by a skull. “I recently saw a picture of a terrorist wearing a T-shirt with Mickey Mouse on it, and felt that this symbol of childhood, innocence and happiness had lost its meaning,” Valentini says. But in a lighter comment on the dualities in our society, he has combined the faces of controversial singer Freddie Mercury and Queen Elizabeth with the tongue in cheek message “God Save the Queen” emblazoned underneath.
Jyoti Kalsi is an arts-enthusiast based in Dubai.
“Our Myths” will run at Sconci Art Gallery, Dubai Design District, until November 24.
