Slasky - L'Assunzione

The Assumption of the First Date
(Homage to Guido Reni and Pop Culture)

The Work

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

Visual Analysis

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

The Typography: In clear rupture with the painting style of the 17th century, the inscription "First Date" stands out in a rounded, psychedelic font of unmistakable 1970s inspiration. The text is not merely a title but becomes the focal element that redefines the entire scene: the spiritual ecstasy is reinterpreted as the euphoric and the “celestial” emotion of a first amorous encounter.

Conceptual Meaning

The painting plays on the exaggeration of feelings. If in the 17th-century original the goal 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 daily life and of modern social rituals, treated with the same solemnity as a religious miracle.

The work presents itself as a piece with strong impact, capable of attracting the gaze and sparking conversations, perfectly positioned within the thread 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