Benoit Dutour (b. 1967), Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl (from the series Fun with Life)
Sublimation print on aluminum, oak, 90 x 70 cm
Made in 8 pieces.
Signed on the back, artist's certificate.
Purchase from the artist.
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The series "Playing with Life" (French: Taquiner la vie - literally "Taunting Life", but it's also a play on words - "taquin" in French is the name of a puzzle-slide) was inspired by the artist's childhood experience: "As a child, I went to the Louvre with my grandfather. I was very excited to see the "Mona Lisa" with my own eyes. But there were so many people that I had trouble getting to it. It was so small, so far away, so protected, so inaccessible. I was very disappointed! But the experience inspired me. Through the series 'Playing with Life,' I desacralize the icons of art history and invite the viewer to play with them." Indeed, the more a work of art is familiar, universal, global, the more it becomes untouchable, distant and out of the viewer's reach. Through this series, Benoît Dutour invites the viewer to physically appropriate iconic works of art history by touching and playing with them - each small square can be moved left and right or up and down, as in a traditional slide game.
