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30 Thought-Provoking Illustrations By Elia Colombo Might Take A Minute To Understand (New Pics)
Interview With ArtistThe world, especially in the crazy year of 2020, never fails to leave room for social criticism—it's like you don't even have to try hard to find things you can ironically poke at. Italian artist Elia Colombo, known to social media as "gebelia," transfers the flaws of our modern society to conceptual illustrations. They are uncomfortable, thought-provoking, and with a good dose of irony and humor.
Colombo has been preparing more food for thought since our last post about his artwork, so we hope that your mind is hungry.
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Imagination Training
The artist, who started as a pizza boy and now is a professional and well-known independent designer and illustrator, describes himself as "a humble disinfluencer comforting the disturbed and disturbing the comfortable." And there is quite a mass to disturb—Colombo's Instagram is followed by 130k followers who come back for creatively expressed commentary on the social media craze, media, mental health issues, relationships, environmental problems, and more.
"My favorite poet said humans deviate from the truth every time they try to judge with certainty. Things are not what they seem: we just wallow in an ocean of illusions and I'd like to share a different point of view on this ocean," the artist told Bored Panda.
Behind The Scenes
Choose Your Life
Colombo started drawing when he was a child and hasn't stopped ever since. "Today, I invest way less time in "'drawing' and way more in 'designing.' I can’t tell how it became a career: the truth is that I never planned it. I like to believe it’s just a matter of destiny,"
He describes his art style as "light-heartedly disenchanted with a touch of cheerful sadness. Also natural, cause I never chose it: it just came out naturally."
Equality
New Social Media
"I like to face various topics, but they all have something in common, the same soul. Let’s say the subject I prefer to depict is the sleepy consciousness in all of its glorious manifestations: prejudice, blind belief, fear, common sense, institutional wisdom, education, mass information, and so on. Practically everything that protects us from the pitfalls of self-awareness and critical thinking."
Zombie
The Machine
On his website, Elia Colombo says, "Don't try to be good, just try to be different." The artist definitely applies this approach to his artwork and pokes fun at everything that's wrong with today's society in his own distinctive style. No sugar-coating. Illustrations seem beautifully done and vivid, but almost each of them has a metaphorical meaning and carries an important message that sometimes takes a minute to wrap your head around. You might love or hate the criticism, irony, and edginess of the artwork, but in the end, they are all relatable and speak about the world we currently live in.
Sellers
me when im trying to buy food at mcdonals online
Standardized Dreams
We asked Colombo what inspires him.
"Nothing and everything at the same time. Inspiration has nothing to do with things, it all depends on your own perception, so literally, any perceived thing can be inspiring, no matter what, when, where, and how. Widening your mind definitely helps getting inspired. Some say it's all about curiosity, to me it's a matter of meditation."
He said he's also influenced by so many people "both aesthetically and mentally" that he couldn't make a list, but he occasionally mentions inspiring names in his posts' captions.
Integration
Technological Sublimation
One of the recurring topics in Colombo's illustrations is the downside of the digital age and social media obsession. The artist portrays the ways social media shapes our lives, habits, and our perception of the world in general. The impact of social media on modern people is tremendous. According to J. Clement's report, there are 4.14 billion active social media users as of July 2020, encompassing 49% of the global population, with Facebook being the leading social network. These numbers are only growing and affecting us as a society. In one of his Instagram posts about the reality of social media, Colombo commented: "What makes us human is not the ability to love but the amount of likes we get, not our heart but our social engagement data."
The Match
This is the only one that seems genuinely meaningful in anyway. The rest just seem like "oh this is so deep" posts
Ironically, Colombo gained a significant internet presence by critiquing social media.
"Well, Pink Floyd went rich and famous on criticizing the show business which they were trapped into, so, at least, I’m not the first working that way. Besides jokes, actually, social media is just one of the various society’s faces I comment on. Moreover, what I really criticize is not the social media tool, but the usage lot of people make of it."
New Social Media
Superficial Lives
When we asked the artist why does he think people follow him, he said: "I honestly don’t know. Maybe some people around the world just feel 'activated' or comforted by my works. Much as if they found in my creative expression the words for what they’d secretly like to express. I always felt a special empathy for those who are not conformed. They are the public I wanna talk to."
Emotional Barriers
The Marriage
This one's a little cute.. unless there's some hidden meaning I'm overlooking
Lastly, we asked Colombo for advice for any aspiring artist who would like to put their voice out there in the world.
"My only advice is to deal with failure and keep on moving forward. Try to earn money but do not think about money as the goal of your art: make art for art, make art for an ideal."
Egosaurus
Through The Screen
If you are interested in more illustrations that talk about the issues of the modern world, check out other posts on Bored Panda, too: What’s Wrong With Today’s Society Captured In 32 Brutally Honest Illustrations By John Holcroft, My 36 Illustrations Show What’s Wrong With Our Society, 96 Dark Pics Show What’s Wrong With Our Society, And You Won’t Get Some Without Looking At The Titles, and 31 Brutally Honest Illustrations By Gerhard Haderer Show What’s Wrong With Today’s Society.
Christmas Mood
Music Sounds Better With You
Daily Sustenance
Community Guidelines
Unlock
Daily Intake
Life In Plastic
Priorities
Sneaky Domination
Is the artist saying we shouldn’t take warnings about coronavirus seriously? We’re in the middle of a pandemic and it seems like this was made by an anti-maskers who doesn’t believe in reducing contact or taking advice from scientists.
I think it’s like all the bad news from all around the world is overwhelming for our brains. We just want the death to end.
Load More Replies...Looks like they're saying covid news is fake, what with the whip and the heels and the submissive victim.
That’s what I thought. Is the artist an anti-masker?
Load More Replies...I think it's that the media about the virus is Dominating our brains. Certainly is mine atm
Hurts so good, eh? Not only accepting it but you're paying for it...by trading your privacy and your very self for a few fake "likes."
The non-stop news about the virus is dominating our collective psyche?? I'm not sure I understand this one. We need the information to keep our heads above water, but we're becoming slaves to it?? This one is full of different meanings.
This one's really sad.. It's basically like some people being worried because of the news.
This is so true, we're being lied to by the news, brainwashed by fear mongerers! Don't believe the hype! It's a flu, with a hidden agenda!!
oh for a second before i scrolled down i thought the whip was a womans hair/head and she just had that leg
shaley, the amount of ignorance you have is astronomical. NASA's searching for a gal like you, I'm sure.
Load More Replies...Panic Injection
You just need to limit your news-intake. Not stay ignorant as a 'solution'!
Cosmic Relax
The Long Way Home
We Are One
The Designer's Cut
Brain Fried
You Can Do It
The Outside World
Scary Notification
The Sweet Side Of Death
Hold Me Tight
Far From Home
Mind Filler
Fake Plastic World
The Happy Couple
Anesthetized Souls
Brainwashing
Vectors For Lunch
Fear’s Outbreak
Some people will classify this as fear. Yes, it is fear. But good fear. The fear of you giving this virus to someone else is astronomical.
Submission
What Makes Us Human Is Not The Ability To Love But The Amount Of Likes We Get
I try not to worry about likes. it doesn't always work though
Desperate Love
Impossible Love
My World Is Weird And Made Of Crazy Things
Intruder Detection
Redefine Touch
Art style is great. Message is good ofc, but preachy and overused (society, sigh) the ones that doesn't try so hard are the best. Just my two cents that nobody asked for.
Agreed. The same old "book good, phone bad" message. The art style is cool.
Load More Replies...nice art style. For this next part you can down vote all you want but some of these seem like boomer humor. Just saying.
I like these, but some had meanings I don't necessarily agree with.
So much cringe. This is same s**t like society author want to criticize.
Just read the headlines and you can imagine that it is the same old "social media i bad,mkay" stuff.I guess the artists who are trying to be edgy dont use social media or media at all.It is easy to point fingers at others and blame society,but then you are behaving like the rest of the "bad,bad" society.
They're on Instagram so make of that what you will 🤷♂️
Load More Replies...The artist wrecked the entire collection with the science denier bit.
The drawing style is very good, but I feel the author sees the world in a very black and white way, when it is all shades of grey. It is possible, many people do, to be a consumer of social media but still create their own art, seek knowledge and read a good book! The whole tone of these cartoons seems very anti-tech and judgemental. I recently completed a diploma in teaching & learning and I relied heavily on the use of the internet to access research materials, look at legislation, create tables and diagrams, to answer the questions in each unit - there was even a unit on the use of IT in schools. I was working in a school and caring for my family and if I had had to study for my diploma the same way I had to study for my degree in the 90's (which involved a lot of time at the university library) I'm not sure I would have been able to complete it!
These could use a trigger warning label, particularly as some of them contain illustrated suicide.
Why tf are you being downvoted, you're absolutely right
Load More Replies...Love the style, but unfortunately the message on most of these is preachy and boring. Like, dude, I have social media and I read books. Wow, am I different!? Unique even?? No.. no I'm not. You can do both. Or not, and still be a intelligent person. So... Love the art, but the message... Meh.
These are all fantastic! It's refreshing to see something on this site that reflects my views, that's quite rare.
This has very deep meaning. If you can understand it, tell or show a friend. Thank you for this Hidreley.
agree with you. not everyone gets it the same way seeing these posts, but they are worth it
Load More Replies...Actually no it doesn’t buddy. 3.4% of reported Covid19 cases have died, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected. About 1.3 million people have died from CV worldwide. An average of 389,000 deaths were associated with influenza globally each year. Idk where you’re getting your facts from but Facebook is not a reliable source FYI.
Load More Replies...Emeri, you are obviously too young and not mature enough to be on this website.
Load More Replies...Art style is great. Message is good ofc, but preachy and overused (society, sigh) the ones that doesn't try so hard are the best. Just my two cents that nobody asked for.
Agreed. The same old "book good, phone bad" message. The art style is cool.
Load More Replies...nice art style. For this next part you can down vote all you want but some of these seem like boomer humor. Just saying.
I like these, but some had meanings I don't necessarily agree with.
So much cringe. This is same s**t like society author want to criticize.
Just read the headlines and you can imagine that it is the same old "social media i bad,mkay" stuff.I guess the artists who are trying to be edgy dont use social media or media at all.It is easy to point fingers at others and blame society,but then you are behaving like the rest of the "bad,bad" society.
They're on Instagram so make of that what you will 🤷♂️
Load More Replies...The artist wrecked the entire collection with the science denier bit.
The drawing style is very good, but I feel the author sees the world in a very black and white way, when it is all shades of grey. It is possible, many people do, to be a consumer of social media but still create their own art, seek knowledge and read a good book! The whole tone of these cartoons seems very anti-tech and judgemental. I recently completed a diploma in teaching & learning and I relied heavily on the use of the internet to access research materials, look at legislation, create tables and diagrams, to answer the questions in each unit - there was even a unit on the use of IT in schools. I was working in a school and caring for my family and if I had had to study for my diploma the same way I had to study for my degree in the 90's (which involved a lot of time at the university library) I'm not sure I would have been able to complete it!
These could use a trigger warning label, particularly as some of them contain illustrated suicide.
Why tf are you being downvoted, you're absolutely right
Load More Replies...Love the style, but unfortunately the message on most of these is preachy and boring. Like, dude, I have social media and I read books. Wow, am I different!? Unique even?? No.. no I'm not. You can do both. Or not, and still be a intelligent person. So... Love the art, but the message... Meh.
These are all fantastic! It's refreshing to see something on this site that reflects my views, that's quite rare.
This has very deep meaning. If you can understand it, tell or show a friend. Thank you for this Hidreley.
agree with you. not everyone gets it the same way seeing these posts, but they are worth it
Load More Replies...Actually no it doesn’t buddy. 3.4% of reported Covid19 cases have died, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected. About 1.3 million people have died from CV worldwide. An average of 389,000 deaths were associated with influenza globally each year. Idk where you’re getting your facts from but Facebook is not a reliable source FYI.
Load More Replies...Emeri, you are obviously too young and not mature enough to be on this website.
Load More Replies...