Elio Mariani was born in 1943 and is considered the surreal-conceptual artist of Mec Art, an artistic movement born in France and later in Italy, in the second half of the '60, supported by the critic Pierre Restany.
The term, abbreviation of mechanical-art, indicates an art centered on the mechanical processes of image reproduction, especially photographic reproductions, which prefers the use of elements extracted from popular press. The animators of the movement are above all Gianni Bertini and Mimmo Rotella; in France it was attended by Alain Jacquet, Pol Bury Nikos, Serge Bèguier, in Italy Aldo Tagliaferro, Elio Mariani, Elisa Magri, Bruno di Bello.
Compared to American pop art, it is marked by a greater intention of re-meaning of media images.