Enigmatic artist Fontanesi splices together images of the everyday, fusing two worlds for a fleeting moment. His cut-and-stitch work, which has earned him a cult following on Instagram, deserves a second glance—not just because of how striking it is, but how it plays with perception. For his first ever interview, he offers writer Kyle MacNeill some cryptic clues to his puzzling work.
Fontanesi is a true optical illusionist. The Italian image-maker is entirely anonymous, obscured by the mask of his moniker. He has 203,000 followers on Instagram, but has no website or any real biographical information.His captions are left empty, a blank space for the viewer to fill, and he’s never been quoted in an interview—until now.
Unsurprisingly, he writes in cryptic vignettes and oblique snippets: “So far, Fontanesi has been a place to explore, where you can meet Fontanesi and take pictures of Fontanesi. There, you can take a walk, and then enjoy a Fontanesi, drive a Fontanesi, or enter a Fontanesi. Maybe now it’s time to build a Fontanesi on it,” he says over email, a font of mystery.
What or who is Fontanesi? It’s anyone’s guess. But the conceptual photography project of the same name fuses everyday backgrounds and foregrounds, objects and subjects. Each picture is composed of two horizontally cut images, creating a mirage of sorts that transcends standard dimensions. It’s magnetic.
A cinema full of moviegoers are suddenly seen staring out of a car window; a floating pair of legs, Guy Bourdin style, crosses the road into a reservoir; a McDonald’s sign sprouts from the ground of a barren field; a man and a cat are conjoined; a supermarket shopper browses tins of tomatoes at a tram stop.
The images themselves are quotidian, but through his surreal lens, the mundane becomes inane and arcane all at once, and the viewer is caught between two worlds for a fleeting moment. Juxtaposition is, of course, a simple visual trick, and something all graphic design students study at the beginning of their creative practice, but Fontanesi has a deft hand, a keen eye and a wicked sense of humor.
Fontanesi himself didn’t study photography and has several other undisclosed creative roles. “But ever since camera phones have existed, I’ve been taking lots of photos,” he explains. He began the Instagram page seven years ago, and it’s since developed into a major creative output.
The images are never lifted from other sources; Fontanesi always uses his own phone camera to make his chimaeras. “All the pictures I use are personally taken. When I combine images, I venture into situations that even I find unexpected, both in reality and in my picture,” he explains.
He uses Instagram’s Layout app, a basic collage creator, to glue the two images together. “Using the tool improperly, I am able to reveal limitations and explore creative possibilities,” he says. The app’s simplicity is part of its appeal. “The inherent limitations of the tool become a key feature. Consequently, these limits turn into a game—a rule that cannot be altered, but without strict controls.” The crude way it cuts images demands our attention.
The resulting compositions play with our sense of perception; a closer look at how they are constructed reveals the artifice behind the artwork. “Even if the aspects are peculiar, the important thing is how it will be perceived by a distracted eye: like when you are on a train and your attention is captured by something, but you don’t have the possibility to stop and observe it closely because the train is moving,” he says, before adding, “If you don’t repeat the journey and pay attention, you will lose it forever.”
But if you do get on board and let your mind wander, another world awaits you when you alight. “In general, the images of places where you would like to escape do not necessarily correspond to the feeling that pushed you to go there,” he says. But his landscapes, of course, don’t exist in reality. “The places in my images cannot be visited, so I hope they can remain ideal and should not disappoint the potential visitors. But it’s nice to escape.”
These liminal spaces lead to something sublime. Whether it’s uncanny compilations on YouTube or Reddit’s r/LiminalSpace community, in-between areas from airport lounges to hotel lobbies continue to intrigue us on a deep level, simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar. Fontanesi is also captivated by them. “I don’t know why, but I always hope to spend a few more minutes in waiting rooms. Not because I’m afraid of what will happen next, but because I find the act of waiting to be sublime. Doesn’t everyone love waiting rooms?” Fontanesi says.
Now showcasing an online display of more than 3,000 diced-and-spliced images, Fontanesi has cultivated a cult following of creatives. Last year, he released a book titled “Sfondi” through Witty Books, showcasing his work so far. “It’s primarily a beautiful physical object, an excellent container for what, to quote a passage from the critical text written by [artist] Kublaiklan, are ‘activators of possible realities’ carefully selected by the publisher,” he says.
These possible realities are proving to be enduringly popular. It’s a visual reminder that even the most ordinary photography can become something extraordinary, and that juxtaposition can be the ultimate happy medium. “All images have potential,” he says.