Verlato’s work is video-game-meets-high-Baroque; he uses 3D animation technology to assist in the drawing preparation of his fantastical scenes that he paints in oils. Here we have the transformation of Michael Jackson; the little boy is being trampled underfoot while three Michaels of varying ages struggle to reach for the pinnacle of Death. The forest animals look on in both amazement and disinterest. The gnarly twisting tree and swirl of bodies remind us of Bernini’s statues of Persephone or Apollo and Daphne. The orange glow in the background suggests other worldly forces are at play. Verlato’s scenes are modern day mythologies.
