Antonio Santin’s Hyper-realistic Paintings

In his works, the New York-based artist juxtaposes flattened planes with tangible forms carved by light and shadow to create a continuous perceptual dialogue in each piece. In a series of oil paintings, he fills the nearly five-foot long canvases with endless details that mimic the texture of a rug’s bulges, suggesting there’s a human body hidden underneath them. In his artist statement, Santin says: “When we sweep something under the rug we chose to hide something embarrassing, a problem or secret we don’t want to deal with. There’s a vast metaphorical rug dissecting all aspects of our reality and each of us needs to find out where we stand or want to be; on top or under that rug”.