The "Mar I.A." ccollection


M20241217
Mixed media Canvas
200 X 140 centimeters (78 X 55 Inches)
2024







An ode to the Art Academy




The “Mar I.A. ” collection is part of the Punk-Baroque series. This collection presents the same face from a reimagined portrait, a subject that might initially seem repetitive. 

However, through the repeated recreation of this image, the artist seeks not only to revisit a moment in time but also to relive the experiences of their years as a student in Europe.

These recreations explore how those formative experiences have blended with their native culture, forging a new identity in the present.

This series employs simple materials, such as colored pencils and graphite on raw canvas, prepared with a single sealing layer, leaving behind fingerprints and other marks that reflect the process.

In 1998, René Serrano captured a portrait of his friend Marie as part of his analog photography laboratory course. This portrait now serves as the foundation for a new composition, interwoven with a selection of figures, hairstyles, clothing, and other elements drawn from various art historical movements.

In doing so, the work pays homage to the academy as an institution. Simultaneously, the artist incorporates elements from his own personal history, culminating in a secret poem rendered in his distinctive calligraphy.

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis.




M20250108
Mixed media / Canvas
200 X 140 centimeters (78 X 55 Inches)
2024





A friendly description of that time: 


At the end of 1998, I moved from the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts to the one in Tournai Belgium, but I still visited my friends in Brussels on a monthly basis.

During a party with friends from the studio, I took this photo on analog film of my dear friend Marie during some interlude.







When I finally developed the negative, I found Marie's face, but after all, an expression that, in my opinion, reflects the myths and the passion of the passage through the academy of arts. In her eyes, I “read” images of Victor Horta, the Venus of Willendorf, Alphonse Mucha, The Bosh, the Mayas and of course, to my grandfather and great-great-grandfather, wise jewelers of the last century.








Since then, I began to recreate her face, even with a mural in the city of Doornik, Belgium.


Marie *PBNDB2000  2000 Mural artwork Tournai, Belgium





Over the following years, I continued painting her image, up until today, when I decided to begin a “formal” series. 

Marie *PBNDB2021 2021 SOLD
Mixed media/Canvas 149 X 250 cms


M2021120X80
2021 SOLD
Mixed media/Canvas 120 X 80 cms


By integrating, trimming, and assembling elements from the environment where I studied, and also elements of my childhood like Space Invaders Atari Video game. (I also  found the space Invaders Street artist in Belgium !!! )





I create this series using spray paint color pencils and graphite. I incorporate symbols that act as bridges to my own culture. And a secret poem…


Ars Longa, Vita Brevis.









Other Maries´s early versions ...



AM1201502009
Mixed media / Canvas
2009 SOLD
Mixed media/Canvas 150 X 120 cms



SN55X712013
Mixed media / Canvas
2013 SOLD
Mixed media / Paper 71 X 51 cms




“Code for Air blow” 2006
Mixed/Photography 71x54 cms. 
Artwork acquired by Contemporary Art Museum of Morelia (MACAZ) , MEXICO
Mich. Patrimonio Estatal. MXCatalog: 7300001860



Detail: “Code for Air blow” 2006










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