Hyperreal Drawings by Antonio Finelli

Antonio Finelli states: “All my drawings have always ‘Self-portrait’ as name, this choice is due to two specific reasons: firstly because even if the word “self-portrait” means the representation of your own person, in the diversity of my drawings there is always a wire that links them and represents me, like the choice of the subjects, the photographic cut etc. and secondly, because the faces that I draw haven’t to be read by the viewer as a representation of the person drawn; in fact in my drawings there aren’t tracks that let identify the name, the age, or the provenance of the subject, what matters is the skin and the tracks of time imprinted on it.

So the theme of my work is not creating portraits, but rather the passage of time on men’s skin. I am highly fascinated by the changing of the body and by its transformation over the time. The skin, that is the most external lager of our body enriches itself continuously with signs, lines, marks and points. These changes testify the passing of a life full of emotions and experiences on a human body.”

All images © Antonio Finelli