Michele Vargas

Michele Antonio Giovanni Vargas (born 1953) is an Italian painter and sculptor, who works and lives in Italy. His art has been both exhibited nationally and internationally, such as The United States, Norway, Italy and Portugal. Vargas is most known for his Classicism, Figurative art and Abstract art. Vargas is also known for using different techniques and materials to make his The arts|art. One of his most famous works is Lost gardens (1996). His paintings portray modern urban society as something dangerous in the dark, something alienated that people cannot grasp and understand. Vargas is described as a painter who creates images of nature in eternal, painful metamorphosis with" total and authentic personal motivation ".Kunstner på opptur. Bergens Tiende, article in norwegian, torsdag 22.juli 1992.
== Early life ==
Vargas was born in Trentola (Caserta) in Italy. His father was a painter in the classical tradition, using figurative motives and old techniques. Vargas grew up with this tradition and began to imitate what his father did at the age of five. His father taught him many techniques. Making sculptors was part of his childhood too; he was fascinated by the form. He was his father’s assistant up until the age of 14. Vargas moved a lot as a young man. He has lived in France, Switzerland, Spain, USA and Norway, to mention some. At this point, he was mostly making figurative and abstract compositions. Later on, when Vargas began to work as an artist, he lived in the States. He had a promising career, but chance took him to Norway. From the end of the 1970’s to the early 2000’s, he lived permanently in Norway. Here Vargas had most of his exhibitions.
== Education ==
After middle school, 16 years old Vargas attended the Institute d’Arte, Napoli in 1969. He obtained the Diploma di Maestro d’Arte (Master in Fine Arts) in 1973. The next year, 1974, he attended the Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli. His field of study was Fine art. During this period, he became interested in surrealism, the Abstract art, and Fauvism. At this school the teachers noticed Vargas' talent. He was already mastering most fine art techniques since early childhood. They asked him to help out teaching at the school.
== Artistic Study ==
From 1978 to 1982, Vargas attended the third and last art school: the Liceo Artistico Caserta, Maturitá Artistica (Interior Design). Here his field of study was Interior design and Architecture design. These studies led him back to his childhood experiences. As a student, he was not only fascinated by classical art, like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, but also by contemporary art like Pablo Picasso and Max Ernst. He started experimenting with classical and modern techniques and mixing them together. It was these studies that made Michele Varga's pictorial expression as we know it, total.Surrealistiske Vargas. (Bergensavisen, article in norwegian) 08.november 1994 
== Direction ==
=== Early work ===
Between the 1970’s and the 1980’s, his work was mainly figurative compositions. In the late 1980’s, Legendary creature, such as Centaur and Minotaur, inspired him. His art from this period expresses that. In the same period he painted many Landscape, with bright and vivid colors.
=== New direction ===
His recent work, from the 1990’s and up till today, has mostly figurative compositions, almost renaissance human figures and fabulous animals in a magnificent, adventurous landscape. The use of color and theme clearly shows his Italian background. “I no longer believe that it is possible to move people emotionally with the expression in avantgarde and abstract art”, the artist said in 1990, and still means itMytologisk på bryggen. Article in Bergens Tiende, Monday 12 November 1990.. In his work, he emphasizes roots and traditional perceptions of beauty and aesthetics, but still believes that his style is contemporary and belongs to our time. With these compositions, Vargas achieves great success. “Vargas works in a very distinctive style. Paints in a somewhat almost naturalistic style, but at the same time far away from the world of reality ", Elin Madsen writes about his artworkStore myter. Article in Bergensavisen, Wednesday 17th of July 1991. Other critics point out that there is “something Nerdrumsk about Vargas”, which had great success in the USA at this time. Several foreign art buyers expressed his interest, and he worked with exhibitions both at home and abroad.
=== Design and computer art ===
In recent years, Vargas has constantly worked in a tension between art on the one hand, and decoration and design on the other. In 2006, Michele Vargas and general manager Tom Greni collaborated for decorations on Utestedet Silver, and garnered many praises for their accomplished style. This style, which they called Art Deco Nouveau, was an old style in a new way. The most striking elements were Varga's large paintings, with clear lines in clear colors. But also the furniture, the walls and the ceiling are his designs.
== Painting technique ==
Most of Michele Vargas' work has been created with Oil paint and Acrylic paint. In general he uses it on natural and biological materials such as Wood, Metal and regular canvases. Recently technology has become very important to Vargas and his work, because it changes time and human beings. Today he is quite interested in computer art. As Vargas himself proclaims that it's all about being in the presence. He thinks his art is getting better each year, but at the same time his paintings are his perception of that very day it’s made. His main inspiration is time and space, the perception of this time and the space you live in. 
Since Vargas doesn’t want any limitations, he likes to experiment in this specter. I use the technique in relation to what I want to say, and I think it is very important for my way to be an artist Vargas says.
== Exhibitions ==
* 1987 Li & Philip Galleri – Oslo, Norway
* 1988 Kunsthuset – Oslo, Norway
* 1989 Kunsthuset – Oslo, Norway
* 1990 Cure Gallery – Los Angeles, USA
* 1990 Galleri Bryggen – Bergen, Norway
* 1991 Nordic Heritage Museum – Seattle, USA
* 1992 Galleri Bryggen – Bergen, Norway
* 1994 Galleri Bryggen – Bergen, Norway
* 1997 Artexpo New York – New York, USA
* 1999 Galleri Vertice – Lisbon, Portugal
* 2003 Collective Exhibition – Bergen, Norway
Category:1953 births
Category:Italian painters 
Category:Italian sculptors