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Posted On: November 2nd 2026, 08:05 pm
From ISSUE 004: IF/ELSE
Digital sources play a key role in Mattia Guarnera's practice, serving as inspiration and collaborator: he synergizes with the “algorithmic consciousness” that permeates contemporary life. His practice manifests what British artist Oli Epp has called a "Post Digital" state, where the boundary between digital and physical experience dissolves. Guarnera's primary medium, the airbrush, aesthetically enhances this state, foregrounding flatness and artificiality as correlates of screen-mediated distance.
The airbrush, suspended between the contemporary and the traditional, embodies Guarnera's broader fascination with coexistence: combining directness with softness, it manifests the friction between nature and artifice.
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@mattia.guarnera is a painter from South East London whose Italian and Ghanaian heritage informs an exploration of coexistence in contemporary identity. Working primarily with airbrush, he transforms overlooked moments of everyday life into layered, post-digital compositions that draw on personal experience, intuition, and algorithmic image culture. His work has been exhibited internationally, including at Frieze Art Fair, the Royal Academy, Saatchi Gallery Art Fair, The Hole NYC, and Christie’s Late.
Venus, 2026
Acrylic on Canvas
80 x 140 cm
Subscribe to receive ISSUE 004: IF/ELSE, or find it at our stockists across seven countries, listed at our site.
Digital sources play a key role in Mattia Guarnera's practice, serving as inspiration and collaborator: he synergizes with the “algorithmic consciousness” that permeates contemporary life. His practice manifests what British artist Oli Epp has called a "Post Digital" state, where the boundary between digital and physical experience dissolves. Guarnera's primary medium, the airbrush, aesthetically enhances this state, foregrounding flatness and artificiality as correlates of screen-mediated distance.
The airbrush, suspended between the contemporary and the traditional, embodies Guarnera's broader fascination with coexistence: combining directness with softness, it manifests the friction between nature and artifice.
🟦
@mattia.guarnera is a painter from South East London whose Italian and Ghanaian heritage informs an exploration of coexistence in contemporary identity. Working primarily with airbrush, he transforms overlooked moments of everyday life into layered, post-digital compositions that draw on personal experience, intuition, and algorithmic image culture. His work has been exhibited internationally, including at Frieze Art Fair, the Royal Academy, Saatchi Gallery Art Fair, The Hole NYC, and Christie’s Late.
Venus, 2026
Acrylic on Canvas
80 x 140 cm
Subscribe to receive ISSUE 004: IF/ELSE, or find it at our stockists across seven countries, listed at our site.
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