WHAT REALITY HIDES — Martin Blanco — Contemporary Figurative Artist

WHAT REALITY HIDES
The life we watch can slowly become the life we wish we were living.
2024
Oil on Belgian linen
120 × 220 cm

€9,500

ORIGINAL WORK · AVAILABLE

INQUIRE ABOUT THIS WORK

THE ILLUSION

What happens when watching someone else's life becomes a substitute for living our own?
What Reality Hides explores the seductive relationship between image and reality, and the invisible web that can emerge when the lives we consume through screens begin to shape the lives we believe we should have.

THE STORY BEHIND THE WORK

The world of influencers is often built around the promise of a life that appears more desirable, successful or fulfilling than our own. We consume these images as a form of escape — if we cannot live that life, perhaps we can at least experience the illusion of it.
But the relationship is not entirely one-sided.
The person creating the image can become trapped by it just as easily as the person consuming it. Maintaining the appearance of an ideal life requires a constant production of content, attention and approval. The image that was originally created to attract an audience can eventually become a prison of its own.
This duality is represented through the myth of Arachne, whose extraordinary skill as a weaver led her to challenge the goddess Minerva. Her arrogance resulted in a punishment that transformed her into a spider, condemning her to weave her web eternally.
In the painting, the suspended figure represents the creator of this constructed reality. The mirror reflects the positive and idealised version of the image being sold, while below, a multitude of arms reaches towards it, attempting to capture something from the world being presented.
The arms begin as loose, almost indistinct forms at the bottom of the composition and become increasingly defined as they rise. This progression represents the gradual loss of individuality within the crowd: many people becoming a single, recognisable audience.
The web connects everyone within the composition. It is simultaneously the mechanism that holds the system together and the structure that restricts freedom of movement.
The work therefore presents two sides of the same illusion: those who sell an idealised reality and those who consume it. Both can ultimately become trapped by the image they have helped create.

SYMBOLS & REFERENCES

ARACHNE

A reference to the Greek myth of Arachne, whose arrogance led to her transformation into a spider and her eternal punishment of weaving.

THE MIRROR

The mirror reflects an idealised version of reality, representing the positive and carefully constructed image presented to an audience.

THE ARMS

The multitude of arms represents the audience consuming the image. Their gradual transformation from indistinct forms into recognisable figures reflects the loss of individuality within the crowd.

THE WEB

The web connects the creator and the audience while simultaneously restricting them, becoming a metaphor for the system of attention, content and dependency that holds them together.

THE MIRROR AND THE WEB

The mirror creates the illusion. The web creates the dependency.
One shows us what we want to see; the other makes it increasingly difficult to look away.

DETAILS

Details from What Reality Hides, revealing the contrast between the idealised image, the fragmented crowd and the web that connects them.

THE WORK IN SPACE

120 × 220 cm
A tall-format original whose vertical composition draws the viewer into the relationship between the suspended figure, the crowd below and the web that connects them.