Finally going through one of the magazines I picked up in Rio de Janeiro, I stumbled upon the work of Lluís Barba y lo me encanta.
Lluís Barba, based in Barcelona, recently had a show in New York featuring his Self Portrait series of famous artists in art history and just finished up a show in Istanbul. His work references art history, pop culture, surrealism, contemporary photojournalism and paparraz-ism. Barba's overt works become more and more intricate as you spot out the references and therein lies the fun. A critique on society and the problems it creates, be it the gallery world, the artists themselves, or the commodity of culture, is the root of his work. He brings well-known and little-known artists of the past back into the present, with a fresh twist on that which is contemporary. An über-pop dreamscape and a reminder that the world works in mysterious ways, with strange coincidences and outlandish happenings, that is if you are living it right.
"While the classics seek perfection from perfection, contemporaries seek perfection from imperfection. The classics define the work as artistic craftsmanship, and the contemporary mechanization and seriation socializes an important part of art." --Lluís Barba, from his 'about' page
