Marcel Antonio (b. 1965)

Lot description

Midnight Run signed (lower right and verso) acrylic on canvas 36" x 60" (91 cm x 152 cm) Leon Gallery wishes to thank the artist for confirming the authenticity of this lot PROVENANCE Private collection, Manila Among others, Marcel Antonio’s works are most described as “Chagallesque.” Named after the early modernist artist Marc Chagall, Marcel’s works echo Chagall’s in their dreamlike quality and vibrant use of colors. His works fuse surrealism with expressionism, every inch of the canvas telling a part of the story. This work shows Marcel’s particular brand of anachronism. A significant part of this canvas depicted America’s Declaration of Independence, with men in long coats and powdered wigs seated around a table, holding scrolls and quills. All seems well – until one looks carefully at the painting. What seems like a standard portrait of the 18th-century event bore elements that are incongruent with the time period. Just hints that belie that something doesn’t fit — the Eye of Providence peering from behind a modern-looking window, a globe, a furnace. However, out of many others, one pair from the background stands out — the lion and the snake. Echoing an ancient fable, these animals are embroiled in a deadly fight. The lion, hungry, swipes his paw at the snake, who retaliates by biting the lion. Though the original tale left only the lion dead, Marcel depicts the snake cut into pieces, both animals taking the other out as they die. Marcel Antonio’s works, indeed, are a masterclass of the expressive and non-literary tradition of storytelling, playful in its pursuit of a narrative. This work submerges itself in metaphors, fables, history, and culture to create a truly unique story, a particular talent of one of the county’s most prodigious artists. (Hannah Valiente)