Internationally acclaimed optical artist, Marcos Marín, is exhibiting a series of Formula 1 icons at the Marius Monaco restaurant. The exclusive “F1 Icons” exhibition pays homage to racing legends, past and present, and was launched during the Monaco Grand Prix.
“Marius Monaco is very excited to welcome Marcos Marín and his exclusive collection. These works in particular pulse with movement – much like the Grand Prix race itself – transforming familiar faces and forms into mesmerizing visual experiences that shift with every angle and light,” said Raphaël Rouget, General Manager of Marius Monaco.
Ayrton Senna and Maria Teresa de Filippis, the first woman to compete in Formula 1
Marín’s exhibition features more than three dozen sculptures, paintings, silkscreens, and kinetic totems. The works celebrate the most legendary drivers in F1 history, including his famous portrait of Ayrton Senna, which stands three meters tall and was co-signed by HSH Prince Albert II and Senna’s sister, Viviane Senna.
Other works feature legends like Louis Chiron and Maria Teresa de Filippis, the first woman to compete in Formula 1. She participated in the Monaco Grand Prix in 1958 at the wheel of a Maserati 250F.
The exhibition is the second edition of Marius Monaco’s “Art of Storytelling” series. The first instalment at the restaurant featured “The Age of Aquarius”, original collaborative lithographs by renowned artist Jean Cocteau and Nice-born Raymond Moretti.
Master of Op Art
With a career spanning over four decades, Marcos Marín is hailed as a master of Op Art and kinetic portraiture. Born in São Paulo in 1967 to a filmmaker father and opera singer mother, Marín was a child prodigy in classical piano before transitioning into the visual arts. His pivotal encounter with Victor Vasarely, the “father of Op Art” in Paris in the 1990s inspired his journey into optical illusion.
Marín’s works have graced museums and public spaces in more than 10 countries, and his monumental sculptures can be found in Saint-Tropez and San Remo. His portraits of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier III—the latter unveiled by Prince Albert II— have cemented his cultural legacy in Monaco.
