Slasky - L'Assunzione

The Ascension of the First Date (A Tribute to Guido Reni and Pop Culture)

The Work

This creation arises from a bold operation of détournement, where the sacred meets the profane in a vibrant and ironic dialogue. The compositional base is a free reinterpretation of the Baroque iconography of the Assunta (inspired by Guido Reni's famous altarpiece), where the central figure of the Virgin, suspended among the clouds and surrounded by cherubs, is transplanted into a new semantic universe.

Visual Analysis

The Chromatic Contrast: The original palette is upended by a neon-pink illumination that floods the upper part of the painting. This acidic, modern light transforms the divine aura into a kind of neon sign from a club or a contemporary photo set.

The Typography: In stark break with the painterly style of the seventeenth century, the inscription "First Date" dominates in a rounded, psychedelic font with clear seventies inspiration. The lettering is not merely a title, but becomes the focal element that redefines the entire scene: the spiritual ecstasy is reinterpreted as the euphoric and "celestial" emotion of a first amorous encounter.

Conceptual Meaning

The painting plays on the exaggeration of feelings. If in the original seventeenth-century piece the aim was to move the soul toward the infinite divine, here the tension is directed toward the hyper-romanticism of our times. It is a celebration of the sacredness of everyday life and modern social rituals, treated with the same solemnity as a religious miracle.

The work presents itself as a piece of strong impact, capable of drawing the gaze and sparking conversations, fitting perfectly within the line of New Pop Art.

Artist Bio

Slasky (b. 1972, Italy) is a self-taught artist based in Artena, Rome. His practice developed outside the institutional system, shaped by a background in manual labour that informs both the physical presence and conceptual precision of his work.

Active since 2015, he has built an independent market across Europe and Asia, later shifting toward a more research-driven and institutionally oriented approach. His work explores the transformation of iconic imagery into contemporary artifacts, questioning authorship, permanence and visual authority.

His work has been exhibited internationally, including selection by the jury of the Rijksmuseum.

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Selected Exhibitions (2015 — 2026)

2026
• FACE2FACE — Laundry Studios
5 – 9 March

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2025
• Tokyo Open Art | Art on Loop Exhibition — Tokyo
12 – 16 September

• Art Parallax — London
15 – 16 February

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2024
• Waterloo — Solo Exhibition, Limassol
10 – 20 December

• ARTLAB 2024 — Munich
13 – 22 June

• Must Be — Solo Exhibition, Anemi, Limassol
3 – 10 February

• Contemporary Venice 2024 — Solo Exhibition, Venice
12 – 15 January

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2023
• Time Is An Illusion / Le temps est une illusion — Kramfors
2 – 23 October

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2022
• (UN)FAIR — (UN)DISCOVERED ART — Superstudio Maxi, Milan
8 – 10 April

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2021
• MIA Fair — Superstudio Maxi, Milan
7 – 10 October

• Lausanne Art Fair — Lausanne
30 September – 3 October

• Lille Art Up! — Lille Grand Palais
24 – 27 June

• Works on Paper — Antibes
18 March – 21 April

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2020
• StreetArt // UrbanArt — Tozzo Atelier
8 – 30 October

• Works on Paper — Stockholm
18 March – 21 April

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2019
• Long Live Rembrandt — Rijksmuseum
15 July – 15 September

• Wopart Art Fair — Lugano
19 – 22 September

• Andy Warhol Exhibition — Group Show
14 April – 23 September

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2018
• Neo Urban Classic — Solo Exhibition, MGallery by Sofitel, Kaluga
16 March

• Anti Donald Trump — Creative Debuts, London
12 – 18 July

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2016
• Arte Firenze — Sandro Botticelli International Contemporary Art Prize — Florence
18 – 20 November

• Twitter Art Exhibition — Trygve Lie Gallery
31 March – 21 April

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2015
• HUMAN RIGHTS? — La Casa della Pace
Fondazione Opera Campana dei Caduti, Rovereto
31 May – 30 August