Shopping, after Arcimboldo (1984)

Shopping, after Arcimboldo, painting by Sam GoldingOil on canvas
84 x 59.5 cm

Arcimboldo (also spelled Arcimboldi) (1527 – July 11, 1593) was a fabulist court painter who composed portrait images of composite elements such as a librarian made of books or an allegory of Spring assembled from flowers.

This work takes the concept into the 20th century and after making an image of the nude from cut out pieces, pasted on paper, the resultant image is painted on canvas.

The composite person is formed from cut out advertising from shopping catalogues and magazines. I particularly like the avocados passing as knees and calves.

The composite image comments implicitly on consumerism.

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