Ah yes, nothing like starting a Monday morning by falling in LOVE. This is the absolutely gorgeous work of Düsseldorf based artist Vivian Greven… and yes, they’re paintings. Oil and acrylic on canvas, and on MDF in the case of those two fabulous cutouts. Not to play favorites, but they’re my favorites! Here are a few excerpts from an interview Vivian did with Art Maze Magazine that gives a bit of insight into her work:
“I have painted bodies for as long as I can think. The question: “What am I?” has always been my driving force. I am deeply interested in the interaction of body and mind. During the painting process I gently stroke bodies into existence. Thus, I appreciate the body and try to overcome its cruel disregard in contemporary society. The body wants to be our most loyal companion but we want it to look and function like an electronic tool.”
… and in re: those two gorgeous cutouts:
“The busts belong to a part of my work which reflects upon power structures in language and imagery. They represent different Venus portrayals. Each of them has a cutout in the face, showing different punctuation marks. We use punctuation marks to create emojis in order to represent our emotions when communicating via smartphone. The busts are stigmatized with these punctuation marks. This work is about the stereotypical reduction of a human being, inside and outside.”