{"title":"Merry Go Round","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eMerry Go Round\u003c\/em\u003e, the carousel becomes a place where childhood wonder meets the unease of an uncertain world. Sinking beneath luminous seas or transformed into stages for suspended, pole-dancing figures, these familiar fairground attractions unsettle the boundary between innocence and spectacle. Vivid pinks, electric greens and glowing twilight skies lend beauty to scenes of quiet desolation, drawing the viewer between pleasure and discomfort. Across the series, the merry-go-round becomes a recurring image of fragile joy, questioning what we celebrate, what we watch, and what remains when the ride comes to an end.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"sweet-apocalypse","title":"Sweet Apocalypse","description":"An environment that’s mostly a pink goo liquid with some purple refraction. Banked sideways in the middle of all this: a sunken merry-go-round of which we can see the once happy contours. \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAlthough the scene might seem surreal and disturbing, its bright beautiful colors make it a much more soothing painting than one might initially expect. There’s a subtle calming effect to this composition. It oozes calm and exudes relief – like all worries in the world have finally come to an end.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e“My intention was to combine an element of childhood and innocent fun – the Merry-go-round – with a more complex and dark idea – Global warming and the idea that, in the end, we’re all unbearably mortal.” Said Dominic Virtosu about this work.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e“Sweet Apocalypse” is a beautiful and intriguing work. Its medium size allows it to hang perfectly in any contemporary interior. The artwork is framed with a black wooden American box with the framed size: 156x166x5cm.","brand":"150x160cm \/ 59.05x62.99 in, oil on canvas, 2015","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39493155225686,"sku":"","price":5900.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0274\/5964\/9622\/files\/sweet-apocalypse-front.png?v=1793285059"},{"product_id":"coachella-vibes","title":"Coachella Vibes","description":"\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eA beautiful Hollywood sunset is bathing this painting with a glowing warm light as our eyes feast with the lavish colors of this surreal pop expression of serious flimsy.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eVirtosu's vision is expressing a joyful perspective on the classical idea of the Merry-go-Round: a new world in which humans will be the main attraction of the show. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSuspended in this universe, turning in apparent weightlessness, the pole-dancing ladies are a sight to behold. Imposing and powerful, the light-rays shining through their muscular shapes, they ARE the new women of tomorrow. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eGazing onto these suspended characters, we cannot but keep wondering: is this for business or pleasure. Is this art? Is their endeavor an artistic one? Are they entertaining themselves or the viewer? Are we the voyeurs, looking on at a Cirque du Soleil like show? Are we unaware that we have stepped in an alternate representation of reality?\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"150x180cm \/ 59.5x70.8 in, oil on canvas, 2024","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48042569990476,"sku":"","price":9400.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0274\/5964\/9622\/files\/coachella-vibes-front.png?v=1793285082"},{"product_id":"survival-of-the-fittest","title":"Survival of the Fittest","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn an urban center, somewhere in France, a Merry-go-round is spinning frantically. It's glittering lights reflected on the wet pavement in the dark sunset. At first, it is hard to distinguish the figures hanging from the poles of this very fun amusement attraction, but, slowly, the silhouettes of beautifully shaped pole dancers come into sight. They have replaced the traditional horses and carriages and are now full-on making acrobatics much to the delight of passing fathers.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe artist uses this work to question our assumptions about traditional values. In this juxtaposition of very different visual universe, we find our own mind jumping from one idea to the next with no particular apparent order.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe carousel radiates with an otherworldly glow, illuminating figures that dance on the edge of the metaphysical. Here, the dance of existence whirls in a fiery spectacle, inviting viewers into a contemplation of our dynamic journey through the cosmos. This piece will infuse any space with a raw, mesmerizing energy, sparking profound reflection.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"150x180cm \/ 59.5x70.8 in, oil on canvas, 2023","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52019914146124,"sku":"","price":9400.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0274\/5964\/9622\/files\/survival-of-the-fittest-front.png?v=1793285085"},{"product_id":"one-day-in-paradise","title":"One day in Paradise","description":"\u003cp style=\"line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003eSunken Merry-go-round. Testimony of fallen, by-gone times. A universe that is decrepit. A world that only exists in memory. A playful time followed by doom. A monument to a lost paradise.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003eA sensation of powerlessness, we stand helpless in front of the disaster. Watching it as it unfolds, contemplating its remains, evaluating the repercussions and ramifications of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003eNot much we can do, as radioactive waters invade our once cheerful playgrounds and county fairs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003eJolly colors of surreal destruction are everywhere. No one here to relish in their toxic beauty.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"150x130cm \/ 59.06x51.18 in, oil on canvas, 2025","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56936068514124,"sku":null,"price":4500.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0274\/5964\/9622\/files\/one-day-in-paradise-front.png?v=1793285090"},{"product_id":"super","title":"Super","description":"\u003cp\u003eA giant pink moon rises over the horizon. Purple pink clouds are moving out of the way to liberate the light of this magnificent perfect semi-circle. On the green sea water, the reflection of the moon transforms into an electric crude green hue, shimmering in unison with the slow movement of the waves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the left side of the canvas, a sign, half submerged, still lit, reads “SUPER” in bold pink letters. It is the sign of the sinking merry-go-round that is almost entirely underwater now. Only it’s roof still visible above the waterline.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis eerie view is part of a series of painting that has been spanning the past five years in Virtosu’s artistic practice. Sinking carousels, emblematic of this series, have appeared in the artists’ work starting 2021 – right when the Covid Pandemic had struck its most powerful tone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA sense of unease, of discomfort, accompanies this artwork. While the seascape looks peaceful at first glance, it is very clearly a scenery of quiet desolation, a post-apocalyptic view of a future that might or might not happen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe artist places the view of this perspective as detached: the horizon line is well above the central focus point of this story. We, the viewers, are mere spectators of a distant movie being played. Looking down on the merry-go-round, we are looking at it almost as if we were rescued on a surviving ship, or explorers amid a glacial, arctic expedition, looking at icebergs.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"150x130cm \/ 59.06x51.18 in, oil on canvas, 2025","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57002290282828,"sku":null,"price":5500.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0274\/5964\/9622\/files\/super-front.png?v=1793285093"},{"product_id":"superduper","title":"SuperDuper","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSuper Duper\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, a merry-go-round slowly sinks beneath a clear, star-filled sky. What should be a scene of movement and delight becomes strangely still, suspended between wonder and unease. The familiar promise of the fairground gives way to something more uncertain: a spectacle quietly disappearing while the night carries on above. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"130x150cm \/51.18 x 59.06in, oil on canvas, 2025","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57002486137164,"sku":null,"price":5500.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0274\/5964\/9622\/files\/superduper-front.png?v=1793285098"},{"product_id":"caroussel","title":"Caroussel","description":null,"brand":"150x200cm, oil on canvas, 2019","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":59932252078412,"sku":null,"price":6000.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0274\/5964\/9622\/files\/OIP-736358648.jpg?v=1794562066"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0274\/5964\/9622\/collections\/carousel-gallery-render.png?v=1794561665","url":"https:\/\/virtosu.com\/collections\/merry-go-round.oembed","provider":"Dominic Virtosu","version":"1.0","type":"link"}