Super

A 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.

On 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.

This 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.

A 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.

The 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.