Lorenzo Castellni’s “Air Collage” Places Iconic Paintings Into Contemporary Settings

The art of air collage is similar to air guitar. You emulate an original and make it your own. In Lorenzo Castellini’s case that means taking the faces of famous painters and paintings then collaging them onto modern day figures in contemporary settings. The end result is a humorous take on these iconic images and a look at how they would fare in the present day. Even though the project is supposed to be satirical it succeeds in capturing the viewer’s attention by using almost universally well known paintings and placing them in different contexts.

Some of the lighthearted narratives include Van Gogh in various “ear scenarios” and The Venus de milo placed in a shell gasoline logo. The funny stories that emerge by manipulating these images is that art can be brought into the everyday realm and perhaps reach people on a different level. It also uses a childlike technique which plays on perspective and rearranges found images to make comment on the moment. Castellini will take a photo and superimpose the painted image onto that then take another photo of him holding up the collage.

The faces Castellini chooses are from famous paintings which range from Picasso’s les demoiselles d’Avignon to Hieronymous Bosch. These resemble street paintings where the artist pairs faces taken from found images with appropriate photographic gestures which include upper and lower extremities. Material wise it references copying and printing techniques bringing it up to par with today’s standards and practices. (designboom)