Interpretation the School of Athens - Raphael

Raphael - The School of Athens

1510-1511

Fresco

5.0m x 7.7m

Vatican Museums and Galleries, Vatican City 

Mickalene Thomas - Origin of the Universe 2

2012

Rhinestone, acrylic paint and oil enamel on wood panel

111.8 cm x 121.9 cm 

Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York

Rosa Paardenkooper - Origin

Interpretation of Raphael’s the School of Athens
2014

Picture layering
2400x1800
Istanbul

Process:

I used the original picture of Raphael’s School of Athens and layered it with Mickalene Thomas Origin of the Universe 2, which references the famous l’origine du monde by Courbet. I made the Origin of the Universe painting transparent so that both paintings were visible. In addition to that I tried to place the painting by Thomas so that the vagina was central and mimicked the shape of the arches in the background.

Explanation:

Upon my last visit to Arter I was very inspired by an art work by Vasan Sitthiket a Thai artist who created a collection of work called ‘we come from the same way’ representing iconic historical figures who are shown emerging from women’s legs, allegedly representing birth. There are several interpretations possible to this painting, it demonstrates a certain equality in all people, it can criticise the famous saying ‘all men are created equal’ by presenting the necessity of women in creation, it can criticise the marginal role of women in general throughout history etc. I chose this last interpretation as the inspiration for my own art work, in which I aim to emphasize that each of these men whom we represent as great thinkers do not rule out the possibility of female thinkers amongst their time who were equally as intelligent, but were not granted the same possibilities as these men. 

Other Visual References:

Courbet - l'origine du monde
Vasan Sitthiket - We Come From the Same Way