google ad sense 728 x 90
Creative License. Comparing Michael Kalish's Works With The Original Art That Inspired Him.
above: a composite of Banksy's Flower Thrower with the license plate version by Michael Kalish
There are actually several artists out who have found creative ways to "up-cycle" license plates from automobiles. One of the most respected and well-known, is artist Michael Kalish.
His impressive repertoire of work contains imagery of American culture - from flags and automobiles to portraits of entertainers such as Johnny Cash. But in the pieces I am sharing with you in this post, he's taken modern, pop and urban art by well-known artists and recreated them in his style using metal license plates.
At first glance, these works of artists Banksy, Warhol, Tom Wesselman, Murakami, Keith Haring, Shephard Fairey and Roy Lichtenstein look like the original pieces until you get closer and see that they've been crafted from metal license plates.
I'm going to share with you both Michael Kalish's creations along with the original pieces that inspired him.
Roy Lichtenstein's Girl With hair Ribbon by Michael Kalish:
detail:
The original by Roy Lichtenstein:
Andy Warhol's Marilyn by Michael Kalish:
detail:
The original by Andy Warhol:
Tom Wesselman's Beautiful Bedroom Kate by Michael Kalish:
detail:
The original by Tom Wesselman:
Banksy's Flower Thrower by Michael Kalish:
detail:
The original by Banksy:
Shepard Fairey's Obama by Michael Kalish:
The original Obama art by Shepard Fairey:
Takashi Murakami's Louis Vuitton Pattern by Michael Kalish:
detail:
The original by Takashi Murakami:
Dog, Baby and other Keith Haring icons by Michael Kalish:
dog close-up:
The original by Keith Haring:
About the Artist:
Michael Kalish is an internationally acclaimed artist and sculptor who has a natural ability to transform ordinary objects into extraordinary works of art.
The subjects of Kalish’s work reference a broad sampling of American culture, from the all-American pastime of baseball and the morning cup of Java to portraits of popular, political and cultural icons.
His signature medium, the license plate, embraces his ideal of Americana with his own contemporary sophistication, curiosity and distinctive style. Many of his unique sculptures have found permanent parking spots in a number of Hollywood homes.
Over the past 15 years, Kalish has garnered national and international press exposure as well as solo shows and representation in galleries around the world. He has been the feature of stories in publications from the NY Times and People to Art in America and USA Today, as well as TV appearances on CBS Sunday Morning and CNN’s “To the Top.” realize marks an entrance into a new medium of work for Kalish, publicly installed monuments.
Michael Kalish
Laurina Paperina's How To Kill The Artists
Meet Laura Scottini (aka Laurina Paperina), an italian artist with a wonderfully wicked sense of humor.
Her collection of drawings, installation and videos in the exhibit "How To Kill The Artists" is a hilarous and purposely ironic twist in which contemporary artists and cartoonists are being attacked by objects of their own creation, most of which brought them great wealth and or fame. I have gone to to trouble to locate images of the original pieces of art which Laurina references because some of you may not be familiar with the artists or the works.
The Installation:
Now, to better understand the following drawings, I have attached the artist's originals below Laurina's drawings/paintings so you can fully appreciate the satire.
Above: Paperina's painting with all the 'artists' from her collection
Jeff Koons:
Above: Paperina's Jeff Koons Vs His Dog
above: Koons' Balloon Puppy
Keith Haring:
Above: Paperina's Keith Haring's Dog.
Above : keith haring's famous dog icon
Joseph Beuys:
Above: Paperina's Joseph Beuys Eaten By Wolf.
Above: Joseph Beuys and Coyote, performance piece
Jackson Pollock:
Above: Paperina's Pollock
Above: Jackson Pollock at work
David Shrigley:
Above : Paperina's David Shrigley
Above: David Shrigley's photo "severed hand"
Maurizio Cattelan:
Above: Paperina's Cattalan Does Not Surf
Above: Maurizio Cattelan's Charlie Don't Surf
Barry McGee:
Above: Barry McGee (aka Twist)
Above: Barry McGee Sprayed
Above: Graffiti artist Barry McGee (aka Twist) at work
Takeshi Murakami:
Above: Paperina's Murakami Vs DOB
Above: Takeshi Murakami's DOB
Andy Warhol:
Above: Paperina's Warhol Vs. Marilyn
Above: Andy Warhol's Marilyn screenprint
Frida Kahlo:
Above: Paperina's Frida Kahlo
Above: Frida Kahlo's Self Portrait as the Little Deer
Jean Michel Basquiat:
Above: Paperina's Basquiat Vs. His Monster
Above: Jean Michel Basquiat, untitled
Above: Although not ready for download quite yet, she has animated videos which will be available for viewing on her site.
More about the artist:
Laurina Paperina (in english "Little Laura - Little Duck")
1980, Born in Rovereto. She lives and works between Mori (Trento, Italy) and Duck Land
2005, Academy of Fine Arts, Verona, Italy
1999, Art Institute, Rovereto (Trento), Italy
The artists' statement (in italian followed by english):
Io gioco con l'arte.
Il mio lavoro è un'elaborazione ironica della contemporaneità e sulle identità che la compongono. Elaborazione che nasce sintetizzando un linguaggio dove diversità e contraddizione si compenetrano e dove l'influenza dalla cultura di internet e della tv, dei fumetti e dei video games, della fantascienza e dei cartoons, generano un complesso insieme di elementi che si trasformano in un apparente caos ma lasciano intravedere delle forme riconoscibili.
I personaggi che popolano i miei lavori sono dunque ironia dipinta e sono frutto della mia fantasia, sono forme dinamiche e colori sgargianti di una sorta di "virtual reality" simile ad un video games dove la finzione e l'apparenza giocano simulando la realtà .
In sintesi il mio lavoro è un gioco ironico sulle sue esperienze che non ha un fine ben preciso se non quello di rappresentare le diversità di pensiero e come queste possano coesistere,
come se ogni elemento fosse un frammento indispensabile di un puzzle.
[I'm sorry...my english isn't good !!!]Visit her site and see much of her other work.
I play with art. My work is an ironic elaboration of contemporaneity and the elements which are part of it. It is an elaboration stemming from a language sysnthesis where diversity and contradiction are intertwined and where the influence of internet culture, TV, comic strips, video games, sci-fi and cartoons are generating a complex set of elements, which, although turning into an apparent chaos, are letting themselves be seen in recognizable forms.
Characters populating my works are "painted irony": they are the fruits of my fantasy, dynamic forms and flamboyant colors of some sort of virtual reality resembling a video game where fiction and appearance interplay and simulate reality.
In sum, my work is an ironic game on my experiences, which has no specific purpose but to represent divergencies of thought and the way such divergencies may coexist, as though each element were an indespensable fragment of a jigsaw-puzzle.