Alex Amann Figurative Paintings

Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique; this is not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. (Issues b...

Artist about his erotic painting series “Narcissus”: With Internet era and its widespread availability, young people have unlimited access to pornography. It is possible for them to...

Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique; this is not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. (Issues b...

Oil painting 'Lilies are here', on canvas 60 x 50 cm, 2024. 

This painting is Bruno Surdo’s contemporary reimagining of Saint Sebastian, one of the most enduring subjects in Western art. From Mantegna and Botticelli to Guido Reni and Caravaggio, Sebastian has long been depicted as the bound, arrow-pierced martyr whose physical suffering becomes an image of spiritual transcendence. Surdo clearly situates himself within this lineage: the contrapposto pose, uplifted gaze, and carefully modeled anatomy reflect his atelier training and deep engagement with Renaissance ideals of the heroic nude. The flesh is luminous and sculptural, recalling Michelangelo’s influence on the canon of the male body as both aesthetic and symbolic form. Yet Surdo decisively destabilizes the tradition. The arrows piercing the body are not lethal shafts but rubber suction-cup darts—objects associated with toys and staged play. This substitution transforms martyrdom into performance. The gravity of sacred suffering is undercut by irony, even absurdity. The saint is no longer impaled by instruments of death but by harmless projectiles, suggesting that contemporary suffering may be theatricalized, trivialized, or culturally mediated. At the same time, the figure’s expression remains sincere and emotionally vulnerable; the psychological intensity is real, even if the wounds are not. This tension between authentic emotion and artificial harm introduces a modern critique of spectacle—how pain can be aestheticized, simulated, or consumed. The graffiti-covered urban wall further collapses sacred history into contemporary space. Instead of a devotional landscape or heavenly backdrop, Surdo situates his Sebastian against a chaotic, tagged surface, merging classical beauty with raw urban immediacy. Saint Sebastian has long functioned not only as a symbol of faith but also as an emblem of sensualized male beauty and coded identity in art history. Surdo acknowledges that layered tradition while reframing it through irony and cultural commentary. By replacing deadly arrows with toy darts, he transforms martyrdom into a meditation on vulnerability in an age where suffering may be symbolic rather than fatal—performed, projected, or socially inflicted rather than divinely ordained. As in much of his work, Surdo grounds contemporary psychological tension in the authority of Renaissance form, using the language of history painting to question what sanctity, sacrifice, and spectacle mean today. Bruno Surdo Paradox of St. Sebastian oil on canvas 60h x 36w in 152.40h x 91.44w cm Bruno A. Surdo b. Chicago, 1963 EXHIBITIONS 2018 Liberation, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Blood Sport, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Art on Paper 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Pier 36, New York, NY SOFA Chicago 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL 2017 POP!ARAZZI, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Coming Attractions, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2015 SOFA Chicago 2015, Ann Nathan Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Allegories, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2014 Bruno Surdo: Respond, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Modern Metaphors, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL 2013 Bruno Surdo: Revelations, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Vice + Virtue, Northern Illinois University Museum of Art 2012 Contemporary Realism Biennial, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN 2011 Bruno Surdo, University of St. Francis School of Creative Arts, Fort Wayne, IN Uncensored, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2010 Art Chicago 2010, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2009 Art Chicago 2009, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2007 Bruno Surdo, Art Institute of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN 2006 Context/Content: Making Meaning with the Figure, University of Arkansas, Conway, AR Creative Imaginings, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL Bruno Surdo: Cycles, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2005 Art Chicago 2005, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2004 Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2004, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Group Show, Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY Drawings VII, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA Armory Show, New York Armory, New York, NY 2003 Paintings & Drawings, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL The Art Show, New York, NY Bruno Surdo: New Work, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2003, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2003-10 International Show of Contemporary Artists, Chicago Art Open, Chicago, IL 2002 Bruno Surdo: Perception of Appearance, Frye Museum, Seattle, WA Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Transcendence, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2002, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR 1998 Evanston and Vicinity Artists, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL 1996 Bruno Surdo: A Personal View, University of Wisconsin, Kenosha, WI 1995 Bruno Surdo: Recent Works, College of Lake County, IL AIDS in Our Society, Loyola University, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Life, Struggle, and Hope, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL 2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR Bruno Surdo: Dualities of Life, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1999 Group Show, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1998 Group Exhibition, Fine Arts Building Gallery, Chicago, IL 1995 Spiritual Inquiries, Struve Gallery, Chicago, IL 1994 Recent Works, The 14th Annual Juried Exhibition for Lake County Artists, Grayslake, IL Go Figure, Figurative Works on Paper, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, Chicago, IL SELECTED COLLECTIONS The Re-Birth of Venus, Temporary Loan, Fort Wayne Museum of Art Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR College of Lake County, Greyslake, IL Flashpoint Academy, Chicago IL John Robert Wiltgen Design Shoemaker Ruud Collection Julie & Thomas Danilek Michael Vozzella and Mike Silver Benjamin Fernandez Tom Braake Betsy Colburn Michael Diemand & Lor LaRose Michael Staab & Kathy Brock Bruce Leep Frank Tzurect Mary Foley Rosalyn Carlson Mimmy Turney Janet Long Halstead Billy Hunt Carol Galli Myles Kerrigan Honorable & Mrs. Edwin Berman Theodore Gage Northrop Art Museum Past Present & Future Company Dr. James & Peggy Kemmler Salvatore Monastero Nix & Virginia Lauridsen Joel Miller David & Marlene Zerkel Ann & Andy Abel Claudia Rush Marc Miller Leonard Goldberg Lawrence Pucci Howard Tullman Collection Susan & Manny Kramer James Rinnert Richar Interiors Michael & Nancy Colt Khalid Altijir Dr. Joe Grodman Beryl & Jack Gore Larry Wolf & Eric Naegle Chuck Wolandi Jack Schwab & David Sandelin Thomas Kaczmarek Marti Dinerstein Craig & Michael Golden...

Still life with ribbons is a modern artwork realized by Gianni Cacciarini. Mixed colored oil on board.  Hand signed on the lower margin. Includes an elegant frame (with some loss).

This painting demonstrates Bruno Surdo’s deep grounding in classical figurative tradition while addressing intimacy in a distinctly contemporary register. The tightly compressed composition—two nude bodies locked in a kiss—recalls Renaissance and Baroque explorations of entwined figures, from Michelangelo’s sculptural studies of interlocking forms to Caravaggio’s emotionally charged chiaroscuro. The anatomical modeling is central: the musculature of the male back, the subtle weight shift in the female torso, and the nuanced transitions of light across flesh reveal Surdo’s atelier training and commitment to Renaissance draftsmanship. The dark, atmospheric background isolates the figures, heightening their sculptural presence and intensifying the psychological focus. Art historically, the pose evokes both sacred and mythological precedents—embraces seen in depictions of Venus and Mars, Cupid and Psyche, or even the sensual gravity of Rodin’s later sculptural couples. Yet Surdo strips away allegorical attributes and narrative setting. The white drapery loosely gathered at the woman’s hip subtly references classical sculpture, where cloth both conceals and accentuates form. Unlike historical idealization, however, these bodies feel lived-in and human rather than mythic. Surdo’s broader practice often stages grand allegories or mythological conflicts; here he distills that tradition into a singular moment of private intensity. The painting bridges past and present, demonstrating how the language of Renaissance form and Baroque light can still articulate modern vulnerability, desire, and connection without relying on overt narrative symbolism. Bruno Surdo Desire oil on paper on canvas 40h x 30w in 101.60h x 76.20w cm BRS086 Bruno A. Surdo b. Chicago, 1963 EXHIBITIONS 2021 Ethos + Truth, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2020 Realities, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2018 Liberation, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Blood Sport, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Art on Paper 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Pier 36, New York, NY SOFA Chicago 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL 2017 POP!ARAZZI, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Coming Attractions, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2015 SOFA Chicago 2015, Ann Nathan Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Allegories, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2014 Bruno Surdo: Respond, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Modern Metaphors, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL 2013 Bruno Surdo: Revelations, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Vice + Virtue, Northern Illinois University Museum of Art 2012 Contemporary Realism Biennial, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN 2011 Bruno Surdo, University of St. Francis School of Creative Arts, Fort Wayne, IN Uncensored, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2010 Art Chicago 2010, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2009 Art Chicago 2009, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2007 Bruno Surdo, Art Institute of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN 2006 Context/Content: Making Meaning with the Figure, University of Arkansas, Conway, AR Creative Imaginings, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL Bruno Surdo: Cycles, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2005 Art Chicago 2005, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2004 Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2004, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Group Show, Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY Drawings VII, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA Armory Show, New York Armory, New York, NY 2003 Paintings & Drawings, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL The Art Show, New York, NY Bruno Surdo: New Work, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2003, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2003-10 International Show of Contemporary Artists, Chicago Art Open, Chicago, IL 2002 Bruno Surdo: Perception of Appearance, Frye Museum, Seattle, WA Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Transcendence, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2002, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR 1998 Evanston and Vicinity Artists, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL 1996 Bruno Surdo: A Personal View, University of Wisconsin, Kenosha, WI 1995 Bruno Surdo: Recent Works, College of Lake County, IL AIDS in Our Society, Loyola University, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Life, Struggle, and Hope, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL 2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR Bruno Surdo: Dualities of Life, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1999 Group Show, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1998 Group Exhibition, Fine Arts Building Gallery, Chicago, IL 1995 Spiritual Inquiries, Struve Gallery, Chicago, IL 1994 Recent Works, The 14th Annual Juried Exhibition for Lake County Artists, Grayslake, IL Go Figure, Figurative Works on Paper, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, Chicago, IL SELECTED COLLECTIONS The Re-Birth of Venus, Temporary Loan, Fort Wayne Museum of Art Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR College of Lake County, Greyslake, IL Flashpoint Academy, Chicago IL John Robert Wiltgen Design Shoemaker Ruud Collection Julie & Thomas Danilek Michael Vozzella and Mike Silver Benjamin Fernandez Tom Braake Betsy Colburn Michael Diemand & Lor LaRose Michael Staab & Kathy Brock Bruce Leep Frank Tzurect Mary Foley Rosalyn Carlson Mimmy Turney Janet Long Halstead Billy Hunt Carol Galli Myles Kerrigan Honorable & Mrs. Edwin Berman Theodore Gage Northrop Art Museum Past Present & Future Company Dr. James & Peggy Kemmler Salvatore Monastero Nix & Virginia Lauridsen Joel Miller David & Marlene Zerkel Ann & Andy Abel Claudia Rush Marc Miller Leonard Goldberg Lawrence Pucci Howard Tullman Collection Susan & Manny Kramer James Rinnert Richar Interiors Michael & Nancy Colt Khalid Altijir Dr. Joe Grodman Beryl & Jack Gore Larry Wolf & Eric Naegle Chuck Wolandi Jack Schwab & David Sandelin Thomas Kaczmarek Marti Dinerstein Craig & Michael Golden...

Artodyssey "Julita Malinowska's paintings belong to those, which once seen - are never forgotten. The open spaces, sometimes cool and bright, at other times heavily saturated with co...

This work is framed. Unframed size: 70x80 cm, framed 75x85 cm Bartosz Kolata was born in Torun, Poland in 1979. In 2006 he graduated in Art Conservation and Restoration from Nicolas...

Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique; this is not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. (Issues b...

Large Tropical Fruits In the Basket. RAFAEL SALDARRIAGA was born in Medellin, Colombia in 1955. Arrived in the United States in 1993. After living in New Mexico and Hawaii established his residency in New York City. He studied in Live de Zulateqi's Art Academy and also graduated from the school of Architecture and Urban Design with Pontificia Bolivariana University. In 1984 he became a full-time painter. SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2005- Galleria de Arte El Taller, Medellin, Colombia 2003-4 Notes in Color, Colombian Center Gallery, New York City 2000- Artist on the Scene, AMC Gallery, New York City 2000- Bodegones, Colombian Government Trade Bureau, New York City 1998- Still Life, United Nations Secretarial Bldg., New York City Bodegones, Consulate General of Colombia, New York City 1999-01. Open Studio, New York, NY 1985- Club Campestre, Cali Colombia 1984-93- Open Studio, Medellín, Colombia 1976- Academia de Arte Libe de Zulategi y Mejia, Medellín, Colombia GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2006. Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, Open Studios, New York, NY 2005. Latin American Expressions, The Flinn Gallery, Greenwich Library, CT 2004. Latin American Art Exhibition, Wally Findlay Galleries, New York, NY 2008 Latin American Art Exhibition, Wally Findlay Galleries, Palm Beach, FL 2001. Drawings and Photographs, Gunter Knob Studio, New York City 1999. New House Galleries for Contemporary Art at Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY . Selected Latin Artists, Art Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey . Chelsea Art Walk, New York, NY 1998. AT&T Latino Art Festival 1998, Queens, NY . Latin American Art in the 90s, St. Johns University, Jamaica, New York . Chelsea Art Festival, New York City . The Belle Arts Gala, NE Gallery, New York City 1997. Hui No’eau Visual Art Center Open Studio, Maui, Hawaii . Colombia in New York, Euroamerica Gallery, New York City . Gran Prix...

Sometime to live life you need to believe in your own fairytales because it just one of those things that makes you full of readiness to love and and receive love , freedom and recei...