Art always had the ability to reinvent itself, to rediscover itself, to quote itself and glorify itself. Even more so in our era of crisis of modernity and advanced capitalism, characterized by the intrusiveness of advertising, internet, and social networks.

Ukrainian artist Alexey Kondakov seems to know all this and his intuition is the result of the unscrupulous and ironic reuse of the most disparate sources, classic and pop, in a continuous mix of high content and mass culture.

In his “Daily Life of Gods“ series, Kondakov merges figures of classic paintings and photographs of urban locations with such care that lights and shadows combine naturally and the two worlds magically meet.

Half-naked female figures taken from the paintings of Frederic Leighton and Herbert James Draper dance among the neon lights of a disco, John William Waterhouse‘s Cleopatra is lying between the shoeboxes of a streetwear shop, or protagonists of a painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau watch us from behind the window of a bar.

A new life. A new moment.

To see more of his collages, follow Alexey Kondakov on Instagram.