Mark Kostaby - Whatever Works

This type of subject can be classified within the metaphysical aesthetic. The artistic movement founded by Giorgio de Chirico is based on the recovery of already existing, familiar images in the collective imagination, but produces an effect of estrangement through the process of displacement (i.e., the sudden appearance of an object outside its usual context) or condensation (the fusion of multiple objects into a single entity). Metaphysical art is also distinguished by the ostentatiously illusory nature of its images.

Mark Kostabi's entire iconographic and stylistic research draws inspiration from De Chirico's Metaphysical Art. In the Greek master, mannequins, which were still objects embodying enigmatic and mysterious apparitions, come to life in Kostabi, populating a world that belongs only to them. The difference from De Chirico is also evident on a formal level, as Kostabi opts for a more plastic hyperrealism, unlike that of traditional Metaphysical Art. The material that generates Kostabi's mannequins is petrified, more lucid, and illuminated by a full light that makes them emit opalescent gleams.

Mark Kostabi is a painter and composer born in Los Angeles in 1960 but achieved fame after moving to New York, where he became a key artist in the East Village. In 1988, he founded his own studio, "Kostabi World," which produces around 1,000 works a year. His research focuses on references to other works, particularly the metaphysical world of De Chirico. An internationally renowned artist, he divides his time between New York and Rome.

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