The Oscars night represents the pinnacle of cinematic celebration, an event that not only honors excellence in the seventh art but also inevitably intertwines with the world of visual art. The 2025 edition of the Academy Awards has consecrated the talent of directors, actors, and technicians, transforming the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles into a temple of art and creativity.
But if cinema has the power to tell stories, evoke emotions, and shape the collective imagination, the same can be said for figurative art. Both languages are fueled by the same expressive need, exploring the human condition through shapes, colors, light, and shadows. It is precisely from this perspective that our experiment was born: pairing five of the best films from the event with a work of art featured on ArtMajeur By YourArt, an art marketplace showcasing creations by contemporary artists from around the world.
From the Big Screen to the Canvas: The 5 Most Awarded Films of the 2025 Oscars and Their Reflection in Art
Revenge (2022) Photography by Lídia Vives
Anora, regia di Sean Baker
"Anora" follows the life of a young stripper from Brighton Beach, whose existence takes a drastic turn when she becomes romantically involved with Vanja, the son of a powerful Russian oligarch. What begins as a relationship based on mutual interests—she drawn to his wealth, he to her sense of freedom—quickly evolves into a more complex story, filled with spontaneous weddings, daring escapes, and the weight of a family willing to do anything to maintain control. Amidst extravagant luxury, emotional tensions, and chaotic situations, Anora finds herself fighting for what she deserves in a world determined to push her away.
The photographic work "Revenge" (2022) by Lídia Vives perfectly captures the aesthetic and central theme of Anora by Sean Baker.
The image presents a scene loaded with visual and narrative tension: a table draped with a yellow tablecloth, a jeweled female hand, scattered dollar bills, a cocktail glass, an open lipstick, and red gloves in the background. There is luxury, beauty, but also a sense of unease and artificiality.
This is the very world Anora navigates—an environment of apparent wealth, excess, and transactions, where money and status dictate human relationships.
GONDA BRUTALIST HEAD (2025) Sculpture by Paolo Castagna (Brutalist Design)
The Brutalist, directed by Brady Corbet
In 1947, László Tóth, a talented Hungarian-Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor, arrives in the United States in search of a new life. Separated from his wife Erzsébet during the war, he waits hopefully for the moment they can reunite. Before the war, László was a proponent of the Bauhaus movement, a school of thought that championed functional and modernist architecture, characterized by clean lines and innovative materials. However, the scars of war and the challenges of integrating into American society lead him to develop a new artistic sensitivity, one that aligns more closely with Brutalism—marked by massive forms, raw concrete, and an austere, almost harsh aesthetic.
Welcomed by his cousin Attila in Philadelphia, László struggles to find his place in an America where architecture still clings to more conservative traditions. His chance for redemption arrives when a wealthy magnate commissions him to design an ambitious project: the construction of a vast multipurpose center. In this, László sees an opportunity to translate his architectural vision into reality, merging the purity of Bauhaus with the imposing presence of Brutalism. Yet, his path is fraught with obstacles—cultural prejudices, financial compromises, and the overwhelming power of those funding the project.
As he fights to have his innovative aesthetic accepted and to challenge the conformity of the world around him, László is forced to confront the weight of his past and the struggles of the present. His architecture becomes a reflection of his personal experience—an attempt to bring order and meaning to the chaos of history.
The artwork "Gonda Brutalist Head" (2025) by Paolo Castagna aligns perfectly with The Brutalist for both stylistic and conceptual reasons.
This concrete sculpture, with its unharmonious proportions and a surface marked by cracks and imperfections, reflects the very essence of the film’s protagonist, László Tóth, and his architectural philosophy. Brutalism, both in art and architecture, embraces hardness, raw materiality, and the beauty of imperfection.
The sculpted face in Gonda Brutalist Head bears an intense, almost tormented expression, mirroring László’s internal struggle as he strives to assert his architectural vision in a world reluctant to understand him. Concrete, the defining material of Brutalism, becomes a metaphor for his determination and the fragility hidden beneath his hardened exterior.
BOB DYLAN Made Out Of Music Albums (2024) Digital art by Alex Loskutov
A Complete Unknown, directed by James Mangold
In 1961, a young Robert Zimmerman moves to New York with the dream of meeting Woody Guthrie, his greatest musical idol. Adopting the stage name Bob Dylan, he begins performing in the clubs of Greenwich Village, capturing the attention of the folk scene and forming connections with key figures such as Pete Seeger and Joan Baez. With the support of manager Albert Grossman, he records his first album, but commercial success remains elusive.
Finding his voice in socially engaged and impactful lyrics, Dylan quickly becomes a leading figure in folk music. However, the weight of expectations begins to suffocate him. Amid complex relationships, artistic pressures, and the growing unrest of the political climate, he feels a deep urge to break away from the past and reinvent himself.
In 1965, he makes his pivotal move: he picks up an electric guitar, abandoning traditional folk for a bold embrace of rock. This decision leads to his performance at the legendary Newport Folk Festival, an event that will mark his career with one of the most controversial moments in music history. Amid audience backlash and the support of artists like Johnny Cash, Dylan faces his transformation head-on, proving that true art does not conform to expectations—it forges its own path.
Trans (NYC) (2017) Photography by Hervé Gergaud
Emilia Pérez, directed by Jacques Audiard
Rita Mora Castro is a young lawyer in Mexico City—ambitious yet underestimated—who one day receives an unexpected offer from a mysterious client. The client is none other than Juan "Manitas" Del Monte, one of the most feared drug lords, who entrusts her with a secret, highly dangerous mission: to help him fulfill his greatest desire—to become the woman he has always known himself to be.
Through a journey of clandestine operations, hidden identities, and complete reinvention, Manitas disappears from the world of crime and is reborn as Emilia Pérez. But starting over is not so simple. Four years later, Emilia tries to reconnect with her family, only to find herself confronted by the weight of her past and the corrupt system she once helped build. Seeking redemption, she begins using her influence to aid victims of violence, while Rita finds herself increasingly entangled in a dangerous web of power, love, and revenge.
The artwork "Trans (NYC)" (2017) by Hervé Gergaud perfectly aligns with Emilia Pérez through its powerful depiction of identity, transformation, and resilience.
The photograph captures an androgynous, charismatic figure in motion through an urban space, with a dramatic and intense aesthetic. The elaborate clothing and expressive posture evoke a sense of inner struggle and self-affirmation—central themes in the story of Emilia Pérez, a former drug lord who reinvents herself as a woman and searches for her place in the world.
Just as Emilia fights to reconcile with her past and build a new identity, Gergaud’s photograph seems to capture an individual challenging time, society, and their origins. The contrast between the striking figure and the rigid urban architecture mirrors the duality of Emilia’s old and new life—the harshness of the criminal world against the longing for authenticity and redemption.
Wadi Rum desert (2024) Painting by Anna Mamonkina
Dune: Part Two, directed by Denis Villeneuve
The film continues the story of Paul Atreides, who is on the run in the deserts of Arrakis after the destruction of his family by House Harkonnen, with the secret complicity of the Emperor. Seeking refuge among the Fremen, the nomadic people of the planet, Paul must earn their trust and learn to live according to their harsh traditions. As he develops a relationship with the warrior Chani, the young duke undergoes initiation trials and grows as a warrior, assuming an increasingly central role in the resistance against their oppressors.
Meanwhile, his mother, Jessica, uses her Bene Gesserit abilities to influence the Fremen and solidify Paul’s position as a prophetic figure. At the same time, the Emperor and House Harkonnen respond fiercely to the growing threat posed by the Fremen uprising, entrusting control of Arrakis to Feyd-Rautha, the brutal and ambitious heir of the Harkonnen family.
As the conflict escalates, Paul is faced with choices that will determine the future of Arrakis and the entire known universe. Torn between his desire for revenge, the weight of messianic expectations, and the fear of the consequences of his actions, the young Atreides must decide whether to embrace the destiny seemingly written for him or seek an alternative path...
The artwork Wadi Rum Desert (2024) by Anna Mamonkina can be closely associated with the film Dune: Part Two due to its strong visual and thematic resemblance to the universe created by Frank Herbert and brought to the screen by Denis Villeneuve. The desert landscape, with its wind-sculpted rock formations and endless expanse of sand, directly evokes Arrakis, the harsh and arid planet where the story takes place. The film itself was partially shot in Wadi Rum to authentically recreate the planet's environment.
The painting conveys a sense of vastness and isolation that mirrors the harshness of desert life, a central element in the culture of the Fremen, the indigenous people of Arrakis. Like the nomads of Wadi Rum, the Fremen have developed a resilient way of life, adapting to the extreme conditions of their world.
Selena Mattei
| ArtMajeur Magazine