Dense mixed-media paintings have been central to the artistic work of Luca Harlacher. The figures, pictograms, stereotypes and every- day objects placed in surprising contexts create a narrative — not a linear one, but a manifoldly interconnected one, one that reflects our inner and outer lives in times of globalization, hybridization and di- gitalization. With a little imagination, the whimsical creatures and landscapes of Harlcher’s visual world accommodate many contem- porary discourses. 

His cheerful compositions encourage viewers not to fall into cultural pessimism in the face of abundance, but instead to see sensory overload, chaos, the coordination and combination of he- terogeneous things as a pleasurable process as well as an adventure and a game. Harlacher composes his paintings with different techniques, as if several people were involved. His use of plastic as the main material gives many parts of his works a three-dimensional character. Through their haptic appeal, and because they play with the innocence of childhood, as well as function strongly on the level of play and modelling, his works give viewers the freedom to imagine things and possibilities outside the “norm.” 

Bio

Luca Harlacher, born in 1993, lives and works as a freelance artist in Winterthur and Berlin. He received his bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Zurich University of the Arts in 2019 and has since completed an exchange semester at the Universidad Nacional de las Artes UNA in Buenos Aires. He has already participated in numerous exhibitions in Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Argentina.