During the summer of 2013, Marco visited Russia to study methods and symbols relating to figurative works and devotional icons from the Byzantine tradition. Since then he has become more concerned with using the background as a tool to reflect his subject’s mesmerising facial expressions and their intense silence, and making the viewer feel a sense of complicity with the observer. One outstanding feature of Russian icons is their recurring use of gold leaf for halos and backgrounds which gives a distinctive warmth, colour and atmosphere to each piece. In Marco’s work, the women have Nike baseball caps rather than halos of course, but he was captivated by the effect of the gold leaf and began to incorporate it into his backgrounds to stunning effect. It has now become a key element in the character of each piece.

Born in Milan in 1966 Marco now lives and works in Lugano, Switzerland. His works have been exhibited in many solo shows including at Stella Mccartney Space - Milano/New York, Gallery Vavilon - Samara, Russia, and many other galleries in cities as varied as LA, Rome, London and Perth (Australia). He was honoured to be selected to be at the opening of the Italian Pavilion, at the Venice BIennale in 2011.

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