The creative agency background of Mattia Sarti (1988) is evident when looking at his works. Product, especially related to the fashion world, is well present, but not only. From sneakers to Dyson vacuum cleaners, there are many mass products examined by the artist, who has recently concluded his solo show – titled Mainstream – at Candy Snake Gallery in Milan. His intention, perhaps all too blatant, is to “explore the themes of contemporary society through the distortion of subjects,” as his statement reads. The technique is refined, a well-executed acrylic on canvas that looks almost like digital artwork-as in the case of Flamingo, an object we are already ready to see in summer stories on Instagram. In short, an analysis of the contemporary through the most popular commercial products here however loose, almost towards a dissolution, veiling with bright colors a mild criticism.

Mattia Sarti takes the fluidizing tool of Photoshop to the extreme, but in a pictorial key. takes everyday objects, seen and seen again, used and overused, and dissolves them. A bit like Salvador Dalí, in an operation, therefore, also seen many times before. With this theme, Mattia Sarti fits – along with many – into the “criticizing contemporaneity” strand, his exhibition he titles Mainstream without realizing that he himself might seem to do so. Or perhaps that is precisely his intention? A provocation to the viewer who, attracted by the product and lively aesthetic of his works, realizes that he or she is a slave to marketing.

Courtesy Mattia Sarti, Candy Snake Gallery