“Les grandes gueules” (2023), 97 x 130 centimeters. All images © Bruno Pontiroli, shared with permission
“Absurdity is what makes me want to paint,” says Bruno Pontiroli. The Lyon-based artist is known for his wild contortions that twist the fierce and ferocious into the playfully bizarre. In “Les grandes gueules,” for example, a male lion yawns in enormous proportions, and a gazelle gracefully stands in tree pose for “L’aplomb,” no quivering muscles in sight.
Pontiroli’s latest paintings exaggerate the animals’ strange characteristics and yoga-esque inversions, which he takes to greater extremes than his previous works because “it just felt right at the time…I like to tell jokes in images, to show something illogical, which will lead the person who looks at my work to ask questions about the meaning of things,” he shares.
Shop limited-edition prints on the artist’s website, and follow news about his upcoming solo show this fall at Corey Helford Gallery on Instagram.
“Le mal de mer #1” (2022), 162 x 130 centimeters
“L’aplomb” (2023), 70 x 80 centimeters
“Pattes molles” (2022), 70 x 80 centimeters
“Elle est gonflée” (2023), 50 x 40 centimeters
“L’emjambée sauvage” (2022), 89 x 116 centimeters
“Le grand panard” (2023), 81 x 116 centimeters
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Source: Art - thisiscolossal.com
