Antipasto, Triptych Autoritratto

Jun 26

ANTIPASTO,

TRIPTYCH AUTORITRATTO

This fiery red triptych of the first three paintings in Advay’s Antipasto series premiered at the PORTRAITS exhibition at Art Works Downtown in San Rafael, CA from August 1 to September 20, 2025 (juried by Emilee Enders of Bedford Gallery).

In Antipasto, Triptych Autoritratto, Advay Mengle transforms the medieval triptych format into a visceral, contemporary meditation on appetite, anxiety, and self-consumption. Unified by a searing monochrome of red that veers between raw crimson and diluted rose, the three self-portraits progress like cinematic stills caught mid-gesture. In the left panel, the artist’s face tilts upward in alarm, a second lemon-yellow visage wedged grotesquely in his mouth—an image that conflates devourer and devoured while jolting the red field with acidic color. The central image, stripped of yellow distraction, shows Mengle mid-scream, gasp, or perhaps merely yawn, eyes clenched and brushwork loosening into vaporous streaks. On the right, the painter stares out with hollowed sockets, two fingers pulling against his eyelids in a hush or gag. Behind him, a miniature replay of the left-hand tableau appears like a disturbing after-image, while angled bars of yellow recall devotional rays, recasting the confession in an ironic halo.
Gesturally, the work channels the urgency of German Expressionism—brushstrokes pile and scrape in feverish cadences—yet its disciplined palette and serial structure nod to Pop and Minimal strategies. The thin gesso ground allows pink undertones to glow through each layer, turning paper fibers into active participants in the drama. Compositionally, Mengle orchestrates an oscillation between vertical thrust (elongated faces, finger, yellow bars) and diagonal sweeps that bind the panels; the viewer’s eye ricochets from one expression to the next, mirroring the cycle of craving, ingestion, and uneasy satiation implied by the title Antipasto. By adopting a liturgical format historically reserved for saints and salvation, the artist elevates everyday compulsions to existential stakes, suggesting that the first course of any meal—literal or psychological—begins with confronting the self. The result is a harrowing, darkly humorous altar to hunger, performance, and the perpetual act of swallowing one’s own image.

Antipasto, Triptych Autoritratto
Advay Mengle (b. 1989)
2025
acrylic on gessoed cotton paper, in three panels
25 × 51 × 1″ (~63.5 × 129.5 × 2.5 cm)

https://advaymengle.art/catalog/id/AM-507

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Artist:
Advay Mengle (b. 1989)

Type:
Painting

Exhibitions:

Portraits. Art Works Downtown. San Rafael, CA. August 1, 2025 – September 20, 2025. Juried exhibition

See Also:

Artfacts.net entry for Antipasto, Triptych Autoritratto

Date:
2025

Dimensions HxW in:
25x51x1

Subject Matter/Type:

Provenance:

The artist's studio

Catalog ID:
AM-507

Selected Associated Works:

AM-501: Antipasto I (autoritratto), Advay Mengle (b. 1989), 2025, acrylic and acrylic gesso on paper, 20 × 14″ (~50.8 × 35.6 cm), from the series Antipasto, Panel of AM-507
AM-503: Antipasto II (autoritratto), Advay Mengle (b. 1989), 2025, acrylic and acrylic gesso on paper, 20 × 14″ (~50.8 × 35.6 cm), from the series Antipasto, Panel of AM-507
AM-505: Antipasto III (autoritratto), Advay Mengle (b. 1989), 2025, acrylic and acrylic gesso on paper, 18 × 14″ (~45.7 × 35.6 cm), from the series Antipasto, Panel of AM-507
AM-508: Schematic for Antipasto, Triptych Autoritratto, Advay Mengle (b. 1989), 2025, digital art, 25 × 51″ (~63.5 × 129.5 cm), Preparatory for AM-507