The Art of Jose Mertz

Jose Mertz is someone who doesn't mind breaking out of his comfort zone. The Miami-based visual artist blends the contemporary and the traditional and draws inspiration from science fiction, ancient civilizations and the mystic arts. Whether it's a collaboration with Adidas, a mural for Dr. Smood, or a poster for Pacific Rim: Uprising, Jose seems to approach each project with the same passion.

After graduating from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2002, Jose decided to live in New York and studied Zen for several years. During that time he also traveled the world and encountered different people that would eventually inspire his work and change his life.

Below are some of my favorites, but you can check out his website and Instagram for more.

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The Unseen Emotional Landscape

I'm currently obsessed with Pon Arsher . Her paintings are like a stylish cage fight between realism and abstraction, and every human figure seems to be nursing a perfectly haunting and beautiful existential hangover. On my computer, it's cool. But I want to see the real deal. The internet is probably the greatest gallery humanity has ever created. But sometimes, a piece of art leaps off the screen and refuses to be contained by your monitor. Anyway, when she was young, the self-taught Moldovan artist found drawing in silence more fulfilling than socializing. But she wasn't avoiding life; she was capturing it. Drawing wasn't an escape from friends, but an intense conversation with the most essential, silent part of her soul. Her art looks like an emotional x-ray, and it lulls me into a dream state. It's also a reminder, for herself and viewers, that our feelings—even the bad ones—are valid. Ms. Arsher proves that art only needs an authentic voice and the courage to ...

Italy's True Movie Poster King

What you see here is the hand-crafted magic of Renato Casaro, the late Italian designer who practically defined an era of cinematic cool. His work wasn't just advertising; it was art. Casaro's journey into becoming one of the most recognizable poster artists wasn't by chance; it was a pure obsession. As a kid, he was fascinated by billboards, trying to mimic the styles of Norman Rockwell and Angelo Cesselon. Think of a teen so determined that he was drawing right onto the walls of a local cinema just to snag a few free tickets. Casaro created posters for a lot of Spaghetti Westerns. His big break came with A Fistful of Dollars in 1964. The movie starred Clint Eastwood and was directed by Sergio Leone. The poster didn’t just promote the film; it helped make it a global hit. Naturally, Leone came calling again, commissioning posters for My Name Is Nobody (1973) and the epic crime saga, Once Upon a Time in America (1984). A Casaro poster is easy to spot because of his uniqu...

Skynet on wheels, anyone?

Yamaha just dropped the mic on the future of two-wheelers with the MOTOROiD:Λ concept. This isn't just an electric bike; it's a four-wheeled robot pretending to be a motorcycle—one that learns, corrects itself, and can apparently look back at its own taillight while cruising. This bike is really smart. It uses Self-Learning AI that constantly tracks your riding style (braking, turning, speed) and refines its own handling to become smoother and smarter over time. If you hit a pothole or start to tip, the AI instantly corrects the balance, and it can even self-right without you touching it. It stays upright thanks to robotic stabilizers (called Motion Arms) that are so precise they can spin the bike's rear end 180 degrees while moving. Plus, the wheels have Hub Motors built in, giving it super-quick throttle and brake response, which adds to its almost supernatural stability. Is this stunning technology a real product coming soon, or is it just an impressive concept bike des...

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