Italian artist Gabriele De Santis, who lives and works in Rome, is taking the art world by storm, with exhibitions across the world featuring his paintings and installations. Part of the millennial generation, De Santis’s work focuses on examining today’s society, paying particular attention to the symbols that define digital culture today, such as the use of hashtags and other punctuation marks. Many of his recent works are painted on marble, a material that calls back to icons of his hometown Rome such as the city’s many marble columns. The word ‘marble’ describes not only the material he is working with but the look of many types of marble as well, with its fluid swirled streaks. It’s that look of marbling that De Santis employs in his works against otherwise monochrome colors and elements.
