G. Pascal Rocca Figurative Paintings

Mercedes Matter Reclining Nude, circa 1920 Signed "Mercedes Matter" on the overlap Oil on canvas 32 x 51 inches Known for his use of expressive and uninhibited color, Arthur B. Car...

Bartosz Kolata was born in Torun, Poland in 1979. In 2006 he graduated in Art Conservation and Restoration from Nicolas Copernicus University UMK, secur...

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...

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...

Large Modernist Seated Nude, 1941 Oil Painting, School of Paris Figurative Work by Picasso’s Nephew Artist: Javier Vilató Ruiz Title: Seated Nude Date: 1941 Medium: Oil on canvas ...

Rene Caty French Impressionist Exhibited at the Medici Society, London Oil on canvas Signed and dated Rene Caty 1962 bottom right. 23.5 x 27.75" (60 x 70cm) 32 x 36.25" (82 x 92cm) Perhaps Rene Caty's finest work of art with loose brush strokes and wonderful highlights depicting a beautiful red headed girl...

Original oil painting on wood plaque by Lauren Rinaldi measuring 9.5"h x 5"w. Lauren Rinaldi works using unbiased portraits of women’s bodies as a vehicle to explore ideas about b...

Part of Daniela Astone's series of figures in different ethereal and surrealistic spaces. "The Kiss" brings to mind Gustav Klimt's famous 1908 painting of the same name but instead of an abstracted gold background, Astone creates a mysterious creature enveloping and suspending the figure in mid-air. The dark monster looks ominous until you notice the nude figure leaning into her partner, her hands lightly caressing or leaning on the the amorphous creature. Her body is relaxed and her eyes closed. As a classical artist who paints the nude figure everyday, Astone is masterful at depicting women at ease in their natural bodies rather than women self-conscious of their nudity—posing but fearful of exploitation at the same time—a theme in art history that continues today. Some of the sweeping strokes of black are inspired by Japanese paintings techniques, and on the lighter areas there are rain drop falling from a blue-grey cloud in the background. 52.8 x 44.9 inches framed Artist Bio Daniela Astone was born in Pisa, Italy, in 1980 and raised in Porto Santo Stefano...

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...

The Greek myth of Medea, the enchantress who helped Jason, leader of the Argonauts, obtain the magical Golden Fleece, is a classic story of betrayal and vengeance. Like many Greek myths, this one too has a tragic ending. She was of divine descent and had the gift of prophecy and married Jason. Theirs's was a passionate beginning but when Jason found another, Medea made the ultimate sacrifice by killing the children the two shared. Jason, Medea and the Golden Fleece is one of the oldest myths of a hero's quest. Gibbons portrays the hero as a bare-chested god with a halo of roses and gold. The Heroine is portrayed with a golden crown and an aura of golden rays surrounding her. His soft features and partially opened lips and her sultry gaze add to the sensuousness of their passionate love affair. The paintings are framed in a simple walnut wooden frames measuring 21.5 x 17.5 inches each. Richard Gibbons Jason and Medea...

Pawel Sepielak is a Polish painter, book illustrator and printmaker.

This superb British oil painting is by well respected and much sought after female artist Constance Anne Parker. It was painted circa 1955 and is of an unclothed black woman. The fac...