A painting by Valerio Carruba.
 
Valerio Carruba uses the technique of painting two identical images on top of one another, a process that removes all traces of brush strokes on his canvas. It also lends a distinctly surreal aspect to Carruba’s hyperrealistic paintings.

For his series of paintings that feature vivisected people Carruba drew inspiration from ancient and contemporary anatomy and surgery atlases. In addition Carruba also says this particular series of work came to life thanks to the iconography of Saint Bartholomew. If you’re not hip to Saint Bart’s story it goes like this: In the New Testament Saint Bartholomew was one of Jesus’ twelve apostles. After helping a king in India get rid of a nasty ol’ demon, the king’s priests (who were pagans) sold Saint Bartholomew out to the king’s brother who had Bartholomew flayed (or skinned alive) as punishment. Owch.

So like the unfortunate saint, Carruba’s painted people are also having their skin removed while seemingly still alive. His subjects show a range of emotions including fear and even indifference despite their dramatic physical state. The art blog Street Anatomy referred to Carruba as the “Hannibal Lecter” of the art world. A fair comparison when you consider Lecter’s penchant for expertly dismembering his victims with the precision of a skilled surgeon. Though they are beautiful works of art, the images in this post are probably NSFW. I’ve also included a few of Carruba’s paintings that feature gorgeous wavy-haired beings that I know you’re going to dig.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
HT: Beautiful Decay
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
The surreal and ‘degenerate’ art of Alfred Kubin
Jeepers Creepers: Surreal illustrations of witchcraft-caused eye diseases from the 16th century
Better Call Saul: The surreal, politically-charged Pop Art of Peter Saul