<p><span><i>Federico Solmi: Escape Into The Metaverse</i> </span><span>examines the work of Federico Solmi, a leading practitioner in the genre of new media art. As a narrative and figurative artist, Solmi utilises lurid colours and satire to portray a dystopian vision of contemporary society, highlighting the contradictions and fallibilities that characterise our time. Employing video, painting, drawing, sculpture, sound and digital game design, he creates a carnivalesque virtual reality with historical and present-day world leaders – animated by computer script and motion capture performance – in a critique of Western society’s obsession with power. Inspired by real events and fabricated myths, Solmi explores, re-interprets and concocts celebrated moments in history. As reconfigured narratives, these social and political commentaries disrupt the mythologies that underpin Western