Project Room: CTRL+Paint: Lino Lago

Continuing his exploration of the boundaries between classical art and contemporary image-making, Lago encourages viewers to consider how imagery is consumed today.

In CTRL+Paint, Lago deepens his signature dialogue with art history, meticulously rendered classical portraits are overlaid with sharp, digitally inspired gestures. These bold interruptions, often resembling brushstrokes made in image-editing software, slice across the canvas like coded commands. Suggestive of swipes, glitches or digital masks, these forms bring a 21st-century edge to traditionally composed images, blurring the line between the handmade and the virtual.

The addition of gold leaf introduces a new layer of complexity. Echoing the religious iconography of medieval painting while simultaneously evoking modern luxury and spectacle, gold in Lago’s hands is both sacred and subversive. It elevates and obscures, all while drawing attention to the act of painting itself.