Artist Marco Grassi Combines Hyperrealism With Surrealism To Paint Human Bodies Into Decorative Art [Gallery]

Over the past five years, there’s been a sudden shift to an art style in which the finished artwork is difficult to distinguish from reality. It is known as hyperrealism, which is usually accomplished with mediums favoring precision (such as colored pencils). This fact makes Mike Dargas a diamond in the rough since he uses paint, a medium in which hyperrealism should be difficult to achieve. However, the art community was surprised when Dargas proved otherwise with paintings of women’s faces covered in honey.

Now Mike Dargas is joined by another hyperrealistic painter named Marco Grassi. Unlike Dargas, however, Grassi makes hyperrealism his own by mixing it with surrealism. Grassi’s paintings are human bodies transformed into decorative art.

As mentioned above, Marco Grassi’s style is a mixture of hyperrealism and surrealism, which he obviously calls “surreal hyperrealism.” The idea to combine the two came when Grassi saw inspiration in different textures, as reported by Huffington Post.

“I’m especially attracted to the material’s consistency, how the light catches them and how the light reflects off them just like how a precious stone, pottery or glass would.”

With said inspiration as his driving point, Marco Grassi combined two different textures in a way that usually is not associated with each other. Living human subjects become the canvas for non-human details. An example of such is provided in the painting Empty Spaces (attached below). Notice how realistic the pigmentation, suppleness, and softness of the women’s body is compared to the smoothness and glazing of the pottery-like design on her back. Both textures are never seen together in such a way but become a visual delight Grassi’s painting.

Such paintings do require a commitment to time. Marco Grassi spends from two to three months on most of his work. However, this seems to be a requirement for any artist who specializes in hyperrealism, in which the time investment is relative to the complexity and skill it takes to paint realistically, as shown in the gallery below.

If you want to see more of Marco Grassi’s surreal hyperrealistic paintings, they are available for viewing at his official website. It is important to state some of his paintings are nude, so please take that into consideration.

[Images via Marco Grassi’s Official Website]