This week Mineheart introduced 16 unique and powerful pieces of surreal wall art from one of our favourite artists, Stefano Bonazzi. The new collection builds on popular designs with Mineheart customers like the White Sky series. It also moves in fascinating eye catching directions. Stefano says of these canvas prints: "I think that surrealism, like a lot of art in general, is a tool to express a range of emotions that you would not see through more conventional means"
Unique wall art ideas
Stefano’s surreal art canvases each feature a human subject whose face is obscured in some way. He relies on body language, posture and scenery to convey the emotion of each piece. Stefano explains: “My characters are improbable girls wearing gas masks, businessmen in elegant suits or disturbed caricatures of vintage fairy tales, but they are first of all archetypes, icons, symbolic representations of a mutant status to which we all belong a little.”
The collection presents a variety of atmospheres, from peaceful and dreamlike art to dark images. The photographic style contrasts perfectly with the surreal and sometimes confusing content of each picture. The result? Pieces of art that have the impact to act as the focal point on any large wall.
Unique Designer Wall Art
Stefano Bonazzi’s collection is diverse and thought provoking, and the different image styles create their own individual feelings. As a result they will suit a variety of settings in your home or workplace from large scale accent walls to carefully curated gallery walls. The Limbo Limited Edition prints, for example, have a feeling of softness and a dreamlike quality. They could be perfect bedroom wall art, for example, or could complement a bathroom or any relaxing space in your home.
For more suggestions on choosing art, Jenn Melon has written a helpful article on how to choose wall art for every room in your home.
The White Sky collection
One of Stefano’s most iconic concepts is The White Sky series. These images feature strangely beautiful lone figures in a natural setting. Cloudy skies mirror their moods and turbulent seas often feature, drawing attention to the turmoil of the subject.
These powerful images work both alone and as a series. They never fail to draw the eye. Stefano explains the inspiration behind his work: “I hide the faces to convey emotions with the body and its postures. I think it’s too easy to use a tearful face to convey sadness or a smile to convey happiness. It is much more difficult to express emotions using only the postures and elements of scenery.”
Dark art prints
At Mineheart we never want art to be bland or humdrum. If you like a bit of darkness and edge to your wall art, Stefano’s ‘Nightmare’ images will certainly fit the bill.
As he says: “When we think back on a dream or nightmare from the previous night, it is rare to be able to recall it in any precise detail. Often it's more like peering through a keyhole into a room bathed in dust or some dense, opaque liquid.” These faceless images certainly capture that eerie post-nightmare feeling, yet bring a quiet beauty.
Stefano’s Smoke images are dark yet high impact. They would work in almost any setting where you’re seeking a moody atmosphere. We love the way the human form seamlessly blends into ethereal smoke, as if they are disappearing before our eyes.
In The Box IV we gain the same sensation, that a human is transforming as we watch. Does this subject realise what’s happening, with his face obscured by a mass of dark feathers? Is he welcoming or resisting the change?
As Stefano points out: “The mask covers every possible emotion, every somatic trait, transforming the bare figures into matter without name and without past, ready to welcome a new form. I photograph and convey the nocturnal part of the human being.”
Fairytale wall art
Several of the new pieces in this collection capture a fairytale atmosphere, yet with darker undertones. The legs and shoes in Cherry Lips evoke the Wizard of Oz - but the surreal profile of the person dwelling within the egg makes us take a second look.
There’s a certain ‘Oz’ atmosphere in The Voyager too, depicting a mysterious traveller crossing a field of flowers. Will their heavy diving helmet protect them on their journey?
Flowers features another character on an expedition, this time echoing Alice in Wonderland because of her rabbit mask. Carrying a heavy suitcase, will this surreal persona reach their destination? These artworks raise many questions in our minds and will capture your imagination every time you look at them.
About the artist
Stefano Bonazzi was born in Ferrara, Italy where he still lives and works today. Stefano’s interest in the creative fields of arts, drawing, and illustration started during his early childhood and in 2010 Stefano began to create digital artworks. Stefano’s work often starts with taking photographs of the most diverse things such as objects, people or textures which are then combined with other elements, using digital techniques.
He says: “I am self-taught. I’ve always had a passion for graphics and design in general. I studied filmmaking at university and have always been fascinated by the cinema in all its forms: from the most commercial to the more experimental. I approached the art with more traditional techniques (charcoal sketch, watercolour, oil …) then I realized they were not the means by which I was able to fully express my creative vision.
“So I oriented to a traditional photographic frame, but even so I was not completely satisfied with the final results. Anyone seeing my images for the first time instantly understands that 50% of it is the result of artificial elaborations. So the observer begins a process of curiosity to separate the real aspects from those made via software.”
Surreal and dreamlike, Stefano expresses his ideas of the uncertain modern world, and his vision of our time is poured out into digital elaborations, exquisitely pictorial and softly hallucinogenic.
Visit his website at Stefanobonazzi.it
Explore the world of surreal art
Stefano Bonazzi has taken inspiration from many surreal artists in this collection. It’s a fascinating area of art history. If you’re interested in understanding the evolution of surrealist art, Remy Dean’s article: Do You Know What’s Really Surreal? is an excellent read.
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