The collection we stumbled upon and about to show in this article brings a lot of mixed feelings amongst people. Some would laugh and approve, some would find some piece of genius that makes it unique in its own way and some would go out of their way to judge it as lazy or trite for contemporary artists to rely on re-imagining old, vintage canonical paintings and sculptures in order to express their own take and their own vision on the subject. Now the case with American artist Barry Kite is a little different, as you probably won’t find any sublime aspects of his collages of famous pieces of art, but the idea and the humor in it is definitely worth seeing. Kite’s eye for detail brings a very fresh and new motive into those masterpieces from all around the world and all kinds of ages. I mean, come on – seeing Van Gogh in an all-out brawl inside a usual Renoir painting or the great Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam, where Adam and God touch fingers, but fully equipped with space suits. And these are just the tip of the iceberg of Kite’s vast imagination.
Apparently Vincent Van Gogh is a huge inspiration for Barry, since he tends to use his self-portraits in variety of his delightful collages. Another perfect example is the stunning red convertible and teaming inside the maestro Van Gogh, alongside Mona Lisa (another one of his favorites) both smoking a cigarette and relaxing under the countless shining bright stars of the night in the background behind them. An impressive detail is that they are both looking at the proverbial camera (looks that have been analyzed by numerous art historians for centuries) which brings a certain amount of intensity in the picture and alongside the lack of clothing on the infamous Mona Lisa, hinting a definite sexual context behind the obvious collage.
Overall, every single collage that Kite makes is full of complexity and detail with a hidden or hinted message or meaning and even though they may seem meaningless to some, they actually are pretty thoughtful and masterfully done with a pretty huge sense of iconography and class. And that doesn’t mean that some people have compared it to a more advanced and intellectual version of Where’s Waldo (which by the way is pretty funny and makes sense in its own way).
Here are some more of his interesting and intriguing collages for you to enjoy:
