Ark｜Painting Artworks｜Kota | Oneness Artist | Kota

Countless lights, like a starry sky.

They represent the hopes of artists around the world.

This work was created based on a scam that I personally experienced.

Around September 2023, I received an exhibition offer from a gallery in Italy named Context Art Gallery through a certain social media platform.

The exhibition conditions were very good, so I signed the contract and paid the exhibition fee.

(€300 = about ¥50,000 at the time)

I shipped the two works designated by the other party to the location and waited for a response.

However, after that, I never received any response.

I later found out that the Italian man who claimed to be the gallerist, Marco Antonio Patrizio, was an international scammer.

For years, he had been continuing to steal art and money from artists all around the world using the same methods, without being caught by the police (as of August 2024).

I thought I had lost both the artworks and the money, and the opportunity.

However, just three months later, miraculously, the two works I had shipped returned to my house.

It was because they had been held up at the Italian Customs and no one had come to collect them.

This work was created using the cardboard that had been used to transport and pack those two artworks.

It could be said that this cardboard became like an ark for these two pieces of art.

I hope that by exposing this work to a wide audience through the internet and social media, it will serve as a deterrent against such scams.

Why the International Art Scammer Marco Antonio Patrizio Hasn’t Been Caught

There are about three reasons why the international art scammer Marco Antonio Patrizio has not been caught.

The scam targets people living outside of Italy, not those within the country where Marco Antonio Patrizio resides.

The scam amount is a cleverly calculated €300 per case.

For foreigners who don’t live in Italy, reporting this kind of scam is a huge hurdle. And even if someone does report it, the Italian police won’t take action over such a small amount. As a result, most artists just give up. The number of victims and the total damages are probably far beyond what we can imagine.

What makes this scammer especially tricky is the fact that he occasionally runs an actual gallery business.

He sometimes really does organize exhibitions as a gallery, which naturally leads artists to believe it's legitimate. The communication seems professional, and there are real records of exhibitions. Even if you try to double-check by contacting artists who have exhibited there before, they reply believing it’s a real gallery.

With that context in mind, I felt that the best thing I could do for artists around the world was to express what’s happening.

This piece is quite different from my usual work and more aggressive in nature, so I understand it may be divisive.

However, if presenting this through my art can help protect even one person, then I feel it was worth it.

I believe artists are incredibly valuable and essential members of society.

As of April 2025

I’ve already received messages of gratitude from dozens of artists around the world saying things like, “Thanks to your work and this page, I was able to avoid being scammed.” However, the gallery is still scamming sadly. Now it's changed the name to "Duomo Art Gallery". Dear artist just be careful, and feel free to contact me (Instagram: Kota369art) if you want ask me something about it.