"One of the surest sources of fun in Pontiroli's oeuvre is the massive cast of characters who make guest appearances throughout his more recent work. A depiction of Christ is usually around somewhere, typically attached to the cross of his crucifixion, but usually having a good time while flying across the sky like an airplane or chatting with a group of visitors gathered around him."
""I've been painting poem-images from the beginning," he says, "Before I started working around animals, I produced many series. One was around clouds, another around snowmen. I've had my Jesus period, too. Part of drew me to this craft was finding a fun idea, something interesting, and visually telling its story. These old ideas often find their way into new paintings.""
Pontiroli's paintings employ a recurring cast of hybrid characters—Christ figures, a freakish mermaid combining fish and human parts, and snowmen—interacting playfully with humans and animals. Poem-images function as a persistent mode, with earlier series around clouds, snowmen, and religious imagery resurfacing within newer works. Older motifs build the surroundings and enliven compositions. The work often animates inanimate objects, as when a windmill cuts a cloud into flesh-like pieces, suggesting living material. Mixing materials and imagining objects as alive yields a playful, acrobatic visual language. Childhood in small southern French villages limited formal art exposure, making creation a personal, continuous drive.
Read at Hi-Fructose Magazine - The New Contemporary Art Magazine
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