Laocoön (2026) by Michele Massarenti

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Galleria Leòn

Main section | Pad 12 - I2

Michele Massarenti

Laocoön

2026

Nomination

MZ Costruzioni Prize

Available

€3,900.00

Oil on convas

120 × 100 cm (46.8 × 39 in), 1.9 kg (4.189 lb)

Laocoön

Laocoön is the one who perceives the deception of the Trojan Horse, yet the city rejects his warning and the gods punish him for revealing the truth, sending two sea serpents that kill him. This tragic figure embodies the solitude of those who think against the current, those who sense what others are not yet ready to accept. He becomes a metaphor for artists and innovators.

Laocoön is depicted as a colossal figure entwined by an abstract serpent, in a pose of struggle that is almost a dance. The incandescent red captures the instant of resistance, while the mother‑of‑pearl background intensifies the tension of the gesture.

The work is part of the body of paintings in which Michele Massarenti engages with myth and classical antiquity, understood as a symbolic compass for navigating contemporary complexity and reconnecting with the deepest dimension of the human. Futurist‑inspired influences shape an imaginary suspended between a return to the roots and a forward thrust toward an elsewhere yet to be explored.

MICHELE MASSARENTI (Bologna, 1998), engineer and designer, approached painting as a self‑taught artist, experimenting with watercolors and tempera before adopting oil as his primary medium in 2018. Alongside his pictorial research, he created illustrations for the books of writer Rebecca Majolino, including "La memoria perduta di Harmonizer" (2020).

Massarenti develops his practice from an imaginary that intertwines classicism, myth, and dream through a futurist‑inspired style, focusing his work on the metamorphosis of the human figure and on the reactivation of myth in contemporary forms.

In 2025 he took part in the group exhibition "Art Sound Loud", hosted by Tiro Production in Bologna. In 2026, during ART CITY Bologna, he inaugurated his first solo exhibition, "Ideale e miraggio" at Galleria Leòn (30 January – 28 February 2026).

He is currently engaged in new exhibition projects, including his participation in the group show "Urban Jungle", curated by Elisabetta Eliotropio, at Galerie Mana in Vienna (8 – 18 October 2026).

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Galleria Leòn Galleria Leòn

Main section | Pad 12 - I2

Michele Massarenti

Laocoön

2026

Nomination

MZ Costruzioni Prize

Available

€3,900.00

Oil on convas

120 × 100 cm (46.8 × 39 in), 1.9 kg (4.189 lb)

Laocoön

He is currently engaged in new exhibition projects, including his participation in the group show "Urban Jungle", curated by Elisabetta Eliotropio, at Galerie Mana in Vienna (8 – 18 October 2026).

Michele Massarenti

Laocoön

Laocoön

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ARTVERONA 26

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Michele Massarenti

Laocoön

Laocoön