2020-2024, Marseille
Acrylic, silicon on canvas
180x240x5 cm
Below is a video showing the early stages of the painting.
Why Did I Appropriate Picasso's Famous Painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon?
Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is one of the most recognizable works in art history, serving as an accessible reference for a wide audience. I chose to appropriate this painting because, like Picasso, I engage in the tradition of reinterpreting and remixing existing works to reflect my environment. It felt appropriate to use his work as a starting point, especially as my version coincidentally aligned with the 50th anniversary of his death, offering a moment to reflect on the enduring influence of his legacy.
This piece delves into the way we represent others and the impact these portrayals have over time. Having grown up in an era shaped by the rise of reality TV and social media, I observed a striking parallel between Picasso’s depiction of women and the way women are portrayed in modern media. The imagery of Les Demoiselles d'Avignon reminded me of the promotional visuals for The Girls Next Door, a reality show that followed Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends. I began watching this show as a teenager, and when I was leaving art school and felt I could create even more freely work using disparate references into a conversation with one another. I realized the value of remixing art history with digital culture to better understand the cultural forces at play in our current era.
While working on this piece, Hugh Hefner passed away, and Holly Madison, one of his former girlfriends, noted that his death allowed him to escape the reckoning of the #MeToo movement. The way these women were often dismissed as "whores" or "gold diggers" echoes the perception of Picasso’s women, believed by some to be prostitutes. This piece serves as both a critique and homage, drawing connections between the past and present while acknowledging the relationship between how women are represented in art and media.