Art: Luca Mainini makes surrealist collages that look like pop culture on acid

Date
23 August 2013

There are a lot of surreal, hybrid forms floating about in the art world; gigantic eyes are one of the most potent symptoms. Every now and then though a collagist with an eye for the absurd succeeds in creating these images in such a way that you find yourself utterly taken in by them.

Luca Mainini is one such culprit, and with work for fashion industry kings and queens Anna Dello Russo, Dolce and Gabbana, Givenchy and Thom Browne under his belt, he’s definitely proven his salt in a sea of detached limbs and beauty products. Taking all of the loudest elements of popular culture, chopping them up into small pieces and then stitching them back together to create an alien form redolent only of something that might have happened in a horror film once, Luca’s work is like a jolt of electricity to the head.

His GIFs will overload you with visual stimulation too until your brain is working twice as hard as usual in an attempt to determine just what is masquerading as what in the weird jumble of bodies and products you’re looking at. Don’t complain, though – le freak, c’est chic, after all.

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Luca Mainini: Accordion

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Luca Mainini: Catfish

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Luca Mainini: Cros

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Luca Mainini: Magic Flower

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Luca Mainini: Mouse

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Luca Mainini: Wedding

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Luca Mainini: Roses

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About the Author

Maisie Skidmore

Maisie joined It’s Nice That fresh out of university in the summer of 2013 as an intern before joining full time as an Assistant Editor. Maisie left It’s Nice That in July 2015.

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