Although Giancarlo Piccin was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, his heritage (he was born to Italian immigrant parents) plays an essential role in his creative inspiration. His oil, digital, and mixed media pieces below are a result of continuously melding influences from legendary Italian Renaissance artists like Leonardo Da Vinci to modern artists like Edward Hopper.
“The challenge for any contemporary artist is to see the world through new eyes,” Giancarlo said. “I try to gain a good understanding of the past and present art scene to try and meet this challenge in an effort to represent my generation.”
Seven Year Itch does just that. The oil and plastic enamel piece on canvas celebrates old Hollywood glamour while creatively pushing it a step further so his work represents more of the art form than the icon.
The close proximity of his subject matter—Marilyn Monroe—in this composition gives us a breather from her usual full-bodied portraits detailing a billowing white dress. Large smudges of inky blue also transcend Marilyn’s signature blond hair, giving the painting an air of fantasy and intrigue, while the same goes for her infamous bright red lipstick, now dark and gothic in appearance.
Next, The Fab Four is one of Giancarlo’s digital art pieces that truly encapsulates the essence of the 60s through the brilliance of the Beatles.
Colorful and captivating, this montage of pop culture brings the band back to life in a brand new and exhilarating way. Their energy lives on in colors—candy orange, lemon yellow, baby blue—representative of that period of time.
Faded images, forming a transparent montage of color, detail and line, also hint at the history the band, stamped across the canvas. It’s a history never to be forgotten, but rather, to live on in the ideas and sounds of music being made to this day.
Lastly, Giancarlo designed the city scene in Dancing Days (below) so that the viewer can’t help but have a bit of tunnel vision.
Blocked to the right by a pole and to the left with a darkened brick building, we look ahead to see the street busy with passerby and a flurry of activity. Even the clouds up above move pressingly to the right, channeling our vision back down to the street.
And that’s when we see what this painting is all about—the Dancing Days advertised larger than life on the front of a building. A promise of laughter and fun, excitement and thrills awaits summertime boys and girls. . . right below the most famous painting of all, the Mona Lisa.
If you’re intrigued by the paintings above (I know I was!) then don’t hesitate—check out the rest of Giancarlo’s enigmatic work on his website today!
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