Surrealist Mixed-Media Art of the Italian Artist Claudio Parentela
Have you ever wondered why artists choose to work with certain materials? For Claudio Parentela, an established artist from Italy, this choice is very much driven by symbolism. A chaotic clash of influences, ideas, and feelings, his mixed-media art represents a constant search for strong emotions and creative outlets. Parentela describes his collage art pieces as disturbing, weird, and freakish, embracing the inner contradictions and conflicts that all human beings are familiar with. Claudio Parentela is a passionate artist with many multimedia projects on his long portfolio. Today, we are happy to tell you a little bit more about him and his art.
Surrealist Mixed-Media Art of the Italian Artist Claudio Parentela
Claudio Parentela says that all the works he created in the first 14 years of his artistic journey were black and white. He is still drawn to the strong contrast between the black ink and white paper, in which he sees the reflection of the multitudes his mind and soul have always contained. To Parentela, art is freedom and an integral part of his everyday life. He decided to become a professional artist 27 years ago. This is when he started drawing “compulsively” and never stopped. It seems that a lot of Parentela’s work is motivated by those moments of pure uncontained inspiration.
Claudio Parentela describes himself as an illustrator, painter, photographer, mail artist, cartoonist, collagist, and freelance journalist. Indeed, he does not limit himself to one art form only: various mediums and aesthetics co-exist in his diverse body of work. Parentela’s black-and-white surrealist paintings, sometimes covered in embroidered semi-transparent fabric, seem to correspond with his other more colorful, almost hallucinogenic pieces. Both are very different from each other in terms of color pallet and techniques but still bear traces of the artist’s signature vision.
When creating his mixed-media art, Parentela draws inspiration from various areas of life, including fashion and music. The famous American jazz singer Sara Vaughan and fashion designers John Galliano and Karl Lagerfeld are his major artistic influences.
Claudio Parentela has exhibited his work at art galleries in Romania, Italy, Brazil, the Netherlands, Italy, the United States, and other countries. He has also been an active participant in the international contemporary underground art scene for many years.
Claudio Parentela is an incredibly prolific and fascinating artist whose mixed-media art continues to surprise. It is a pleasure for us to share his work with our readers.