Nicola Verlato is an artist from Verona Italy who now lives in New York. His work is full of movement and contrast sometimes it reminds me classic paintings. However what really facinates me is that he uses the new media for his work, getting visual inspiration and references from video games and using 3D software as well.

He has exhibited in galleries and museums around the world with exhibitions at Byblos Art Gallery, Verona, Italy, 2nd Prague Biennal, Prague, Czech Republic, White Columns, New York, Hof & Huyser Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands, British Institute, Rome, Italy, Contemporary Art Museum, Monfalcone, Italy, Tirana Biennal,Tirana, Albania, Contemporary Art Pavillion, Milan, Italy.

Nicola Verlato attempts to realize the “unreal” in his use of mythical references. Utilizing witches to explore the depths of sexuality, mysticism and power, the paintings are composed as conceptual cinematic storyboards and tell a story from multiple points of view. Invoking, at times, sexually explicit subject matter, the artist, who looks to a wide range of popular culture sources for visual inspiration including high-tech “first-person shooter” video gaming, renders a seemingly post-apocalyptic view of American society. - Saatchi Gallery

For more information and works visit Nicola's website, there are a lot of images of his paintings, simply fantastic.

The Death of James Dean ( from a drawing by Andy Wahrol)

Beauty of Failure

Beauty of Failure II

Gator

Mud,

-Yes, absolutely! I don’t care about reality itself; I’m interested in the way we perceive it and manipulate it through models and representations - Nicola Verlato Interview for ArtPulse

Still

The Gift

Cinderella

Fiftycent

The Deep Religiosity of Capitalism

Young composers today, especially in America, are trying to combine the language of pop music in the complex structures of high music. This is what I’m trying to do in my paintings, as well as what other painters are doing in this country. - Nicola Verlato Interview for ArtPulse

The Best For You Is Absolutely Unattainable: Not Being Born, Not Being, Not Being Anything

Still Fighting

The Stairway To Heaven

The End of the Illusions

The Garden

Thanks to 3D software and the entertainment market, we are getting back to an aesthetic-cognitive path of representations and models. When a video game is successful, it’s able to spread a specific vision of the world. For example, the way a leaf is designed is determined by the software used: that software can set an aesthetic standard, changing the way I paint a leaf. In the same way, when Piero della Francesca painted a leaf or, let’s say, a mountain, he was sharing a vision of the world supported by the cultural system in which he was living and working. In short, video games are producing new aesthetic standards and models, and I’m interested in these standards. - Nicola Verlato Interview for ArtPulse

Hey Joe

Not for Everyone

Stadium Arcadium

Check out the full interview with Nicola Verlato for ArtPlus Magazine: A Vision of the World - Interview with Nicola Verlato