From Mona to Mayhem

This series of digital collages playfully reimagines the world of Last of the Summer Wine by transporting its beloved characters into the settings of iconic paintings from art history. The works fuse high culture with popular culture, creating a humorous and nostalgic dialogue between two very different yet equally enduring traditions of storytelling.

The inspiration came from a deep affection for both the timelessness of classic artworks and the warmth, wit, and eccentricity of Last of the Summer Wine. The show, with its gentle humour and uniquely Yorkshire charm, has long celebrated the quirks of everyday life and the poetry of ordinary people. By placing its characters within the grand, often serious contexts of canonical paintings, the collages highlight the absurdity and humanity shared by both worlds.

This juxtaposition allows familiar faces—Compo, Clegg, Foggy, and others—to step into the role of mythological heroes, romantic figures, and tragic icons, disrupting the reverence of fine art with a playful wink. At the same time, it honours both sources: the masterpieces of the past and the cultural treasure of Britain’s longest-running sitcom. Ultimately, these works invite viewers to reconsider the boundaries between ‘high’ and ‘low’ art, while celebrating humour, nostalgia, and the enduring creativity of remixing cultural memory.