Marco Ercoli - Apoteosi

Title: Apotheosis
Technique: oil on canvas
Size: 64 × 45 cm,
Year: 2022

In Apotheosis, the golden bust of Caligula emerges from the darkness like a sacred, disturbing apparition. The figure seems to surface from thick, nocturnal, almost tropical vegetation, which does not serve as a mere background but as a living force: it wraps around the body, interrupts its contours, assails it and at the same time consecrates it.
The honey dripping on the bust turns the image into an ambiguous vision. The golden matter recalls gold, sunlight, the votive offering, and the desire for deification; but its viscous texture also suggests corruption, excess, loss of control. Caligula thus appears as an idol attempting to raise itself above the human, yet remains imprisoned in his own image, consumed by the very substance that should glorify him.
The face, frontal and almost immobile, preserves a cold severity, while the drips alter its features until they become unstable, phantasmatic. Apotheosis is not depicted as a pacified triumph, but as an uneasy transformation: a ascent that coincides with a dissolution, a glory that melts before the gaze.
The contrast between the warm, luminous yellow of the bust and the dark green of the vegetation creates an intense, almost theatrical tension. The painting oscillates between splendor and decomposition, sacredness and vice, attraction and threat.
Apotheosis is a visionary work on power that aspires to the divine: Caligula, an emperor made more of vices than of virtues, is here transformed into a golden simulacrum, seductive and decadent, a new Sun destined, however, to melt in his own delirium.

The works of Marco Ercoli have passed through the Colasanti auction house:
https://www.colasantiaste.com/it/artisti/marco-ercoli-1327

The artist is listed in Arsvalue's catalog of artists:
https://www.arsvalue.com/en/lots/1278322/marco-ercoli-roma-1986-albero-della-vita

Instagram Page:
https://www.instagram.com/marco__ercoli/

Marco Ercoli

Artistic Curriculum
Prizes and Recognitions

2024: Selected among the "222 Artists to Invest in 2024", editorial volume curated by Exibart.

2023 – Gualdo Tadino: Realization of the Palio for the 2023 edition of the "Giochi de le Porte", presented with a standing ovation at the Monumental Church of San Francesco.

2019 – Isernia: Winner of P.A.C.I. Award, Quality Award, Auditorium Città d'Isernia.

2012 – France: Colart scholarship at the Atelier "Plessix-Madeuc".

2008 – Rome: Winner of "MarteLive", Quality Award, painting section.

Solo Exhibitions

2023 – Gualdo Tadino (PG): "In Your Eyes", Museal Center - Monumental Church of San Francesco, curated by Cesare Biasini Selvaggi.

2022 – Rome: "Epimetheus", Galleria 28 Piazza di Pietra, curated by Giorgia Basili.

2021 – Massa Lubrense (NA): "Night", Art Hotel Villa Fiorella, curated by Giorgia Basili.

2016 – Rome: "7", Galleria Curva Pura, curated by Serena Di Giovanni.

2010 – Rome: "F(R)ame", Libreria Einaudi.

2009 – Rome: "Butterfly Collection". Galleria Ercoli Arte Contemporanea, curated by Carlo Ercoli.

2009 – Rome: "Matter and Ego", Galleria Casina Giustiniani.

Group Exhibitions and Pavilions

2018 – Basel (Switzerland): "Sommerausstellung", Galerie Eulenspiegel.

2018 – Rome: "Profane Liquid, for external use only", Studio Giga, curated by Bianca Catalano.

2015 – Rome: "Radiate", TakeawayGallery.

2015 – Fermo: Stripe Festival Art and Architecture.

2015 – Milan: Affordable Art Fair Milano (AAF), Superstudio Più, Stand E5 (White Noise Gallery).

2015 – Rome: "Any Given Post-it", White Noise Gallery.

2013 – Rome: "First Art Hotel", Galleria Muciaccia.

2012 – Rome: "Rendez-vous", Galleria ArtePerOggi.

2012 – France: "Les Atelier du Plessix-Madeuc", Abbaye St Magloire, Lehon.

2011 – Turin: Venice Biennale, Italy Pavilion.

Installations and Special Projects

2018 – Civitella D'Agliano (VT): "Agora", Permanent Installation, project 1 Artist 1 Day, Contaminazioni d'Arte.