Juan Rodrigo Piedrahita Escobar

Urban Embrace - Oil Paint by Juan Rodrigo Piedrahita Escobar - 2026

2026

Oil painting, 2019. Certificate of authenticity by the author. In creating this piece, I ventured into the realm of the enigmatic, where realism dances with surrealism. The oil medi...

At long last is a contemporary artwork realized by Ryan Mendoza in 2009. Oil painting on canvas. Hand signed and dated on the back. Provenance: Galleria Massimo Minini, Brescia Born in 1971 in New York, Mendoza's personal story is subsequently intertwined with the two extremes of Europe, Naples and Berlin, the two cities in which he has lived and worked up to now. In his works he represents complex theatricality, models anatomies, doses colours, calibrates lights, draws on a rich archive of memories, confusing ancient pictorial wisdom and contemporary risks. The artist's attention is particularly focused on portraits in which he carries out distortions and alterations: he exhibits perspective disproportions, reveals anatomical dissonances, manifests dystonias between the characters in the foreground and the backgrounds. His characters appear "possessed", it is no coincidence that the title of the 2010 solo show at the Muse d'Arte Contemporanea Donna Regina in Naples is "The possessed...

'Admire', Original oil painting on canvas 80 x 100 cm realized by Elena Mardshova in 2025 Excellent condition.

Oil on canvas realized by Sebastiano Sanguigni (1931-2012). Hand signed lower left. Very good condition.

Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographic stills, repurposing them into images of intimacy. Rick Sindt Did I Steal You Away? oil on panel 18h x 24w x 1.50d in 45.72h x 60.96w x 3.81d cm RIS036 “This body of work has been crystalizing in my mind for about five years,” says Sindt, “It is the product of reflecting on how the places I learned the most about myself, and my desires, are considered something that sullies a person, something taboo.” Focused on the experiences of gay men, this body of oil paintings depicts moments that range from tender touches to more sexually explicit...

Gigino Falconi was born in Giulianova (Teramo) in 1933. He began painting at the age of sixteen, and in 1954 he obtained a Liceo Artistico of Pescara. During the early years of his career, Falconi began teaching and drawing at the middle school in his city, refining his technique by copying a thousand paintings and drawings, bringing himself to an understanding of the secrets of technique and color behind the Great Masters of every century. In 1975 he abandoned teaching to devote himself entirely to painting. His method of working developed in pictorial cycles over the years in the most exposed and prestigious Italian galleries...

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...

In The Union of Different Skies, Bruno Surdo transforms an ordinary urban crowd into a contemporary history painting. The compressed space, layered figures, and heightened atmosphere...