Virut 2022 Exhibition Catalogue

VIRUT It’s our pleasure to welcome you to the 2022 Exhibition for world-renowned artist, VIRUT. Born in 1980, VIRUT is known for his expressive pop-art portraits made entirely by assembling in a collage technique. As an artist overflowing with creativity, VIRUT ditches the traditional oil brush for piles of colourful magazine cuttings.

This successful formula sees tiny scraps of colourful paper, meticulously layered one next to the other to produce eye-popping portraits.

His larger than life collages are complex and vivid, from a distance the portraits are almost hyperrealistic, viewed closely the original image softly dissolves into the layers of paper.

VIRUT celebrates the character and emotions of his subjects regardless of their gender, age and ethnicity. Rather than looking for faces that are beautiful or famous, VIRUT searches for a face full of emotion. “My sole goal is to immortalise the energy & beauty of the people I create. I draw a lot of inspiration from people I see in my everyday life” The final product of VIRUT’s tedious practice is nothing short of Artistic wonder. The original image disappears, but the energy & feeling of the model remains.

VIRUT’s massive collages are a hit amongst art collectors, his works are in prestigious collections such as that of Italian fashion giant Luciano Benetton or Chinese model Liu Dan. His works hang on walls of private

homes around the world. Having his art in all those places, admired by so many people, grants VIRUT his main wish as an artist – immortality. “When I die, my art will not die with me. This will be a success for me.”

After a sellout show in 2019, 2020 and 2021, VIRUT has spent the last year creating this body of work for this New Zealand show, we hope you enjoy it!

Artbay Galleries are delighted to represent VIRUT’s Artwork exclusively for the Australasian Region.

Beauty Queen 120 x 170 cm $22,000

African 155 x 120cm $22,000

Chuu 120 x 180cm $22,000

Chinese Bride No. 2 140 x 200cm $27,000

Red Hair Scream 170 x 140cm $25,000

Freckle Girl 180 x 140cm $25,000

Gold Lady 140 x 200cm $27,000

Sexy Lady 140 x 160cm $25,000

Vintage Girl with Gum 120 x 170cm $22,000

Old Smile 150 x 150cm $22,000

Mahana 140 x 180cm $25,000

Pink Lollipop 180 x 150cm $25,000

Pink Glasses 120 x 170cm $22,000

The Explosion 130 x 170cm $22,000

The Astronaut 140 x 180cm $27,000

Climax No. 2 150 x 180cm $25,000

Gun Girl 120 x 180cm $25,000

Old Man with Cigarette 150 x 200cm $27,000

info@artbay.co.nz | www.artbay.co.nz | 03 442 9090 Eichardts Building, 9 - 11 Lvl 1 Marine Parade, Queenstown