Mikael Lo Presti’s (b.1989, Södra Sandby) art branches out of a long tradition of painting. Phenomenologically investigating the tropes and ideas which shaped a big chunk of figurative painting of the 1900s, Lo Presti takes what there was and turns it into what one’d like it to become. Still life is the key to access his multifaceted practice, as the objects, constellating his paintings, are almost more relevant than the often lonely figures. Symbols and stories, inserted in whimsical compositions blending timeless imaginary and very contemporary markers, are used in a narrative process which delves deeply into his Italian heritage, pop references and memory. Silent and still plateaux, which reminds of how De Chirico would have painted nowadays a young Swedish kid. Lo Presti holds a BA from Oslo Art Academy (2015) and he has been exhibited at Astrup Fearnley Museet (Oslo, 2023), STANDARD (OSLO) (2023), Galleri Magnus Karlsson (Stockholm, 2023), Heerz Tooya (Veliko Tarnovo, 2023), Bureau (New York, 2019), Kunstnernes Hus (Oslo, 2016), Hamburger Bahnhof (Berlin, 2015), and Kulturgjuteriet (Borrby, 2014) among others. Lo Presti lives and works between Stockholm, Sweden and Oslo, Norway.