
albrecht dürer
hooked generation
Albrecht Dürer is commonly regarded as one of the greatest artists ever lived.
He also created the drawing of the "Praying Hands".
He was born in 1471 (21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528) in Germany and he lived in a period which we describe today as the European renaissance. The renaissance was an era which was associated with great social change. Artists where no longer regarded as craftsmen, they bacame superstars like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangela, Raffael... and so on.
With this painting I want to visualize how depended on electronic devices we humans are today. I asked myself, how would it look like if someone born in a period called the renaissance would be confronted with a smartphone for the first time. My goal was to catch this particular moment with all the emotions and reactions in his face.
Albrecht Dürer often painted a skull, which symbolized "vanitas".
"A vanitas is a symbolic work of art showing the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death." (source: Wikipedia)"
Our life is too short to waste it.
Electronic devices are great inventions but they are transient items.
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If you take a look at this smartphone you wonder
whose hand is reflected on the backside of the phone and what this hand is actually doing.
As you´ve already might guessed, this hand is the artist´s hand, who created this artwork.
But what is he doing?
Well he is holding a scissors in his hand and it appears like he wants to cut something.
Does he want to cut his thumb off, or the charging cable, or maybe a curl of Mister Dürer´s hair, like someone did after he died in 1528...???
The portrait of Albrecht Dürer has always fascinated me, especially as a young kid.
So this portrait was something I wanted to paint for a while and it quite challenged me.
- Oilpainting on wooden panel
(50x70 cm)
- 70 hours working time