Paradise
1979
Metal and painted wood, natural fibers and painted resin, plastic and medicines
38 x 31 x 21 cm (14 15/16 x 12 3/16 x 8 1/4 in.)
More grotesque than macabre, a face that is all but destroyed by acid—only the eyes are left—and a pair of hands are lying on top of a birdcage. Inside, instead of captive birds are held a penis and a breast. Titled Paradise by Japanese artist Tetsumi Kudo in his usual wacky, caustic critique, this artwork places on the same level the grim and the poetic, the obscene and laughter.
This artwork is in direct line with other pieces created between the 1960s and the 1980s, such as Votre Portrait and the series Portrait of Artist in Crisis, which are also held in the Pinault Collection. All convey an aesthetics of fragmented bodies, to which the artist brings irony in the spirit of Neo Dada. Another leitmotiv, the birdcage appears as a metaphor of the responsibility or disarray of a man in poor condition as he faces the excesses of our individualistic and consumerist society.
Held by the Pinault Collection, Paradise was presented to the public in the show À Triple tour. Collection Pinault (“triple locked”) at the Paris Conciergerie, in 2013.
This artwork is in direct line with other pieces created between the 1960s and the 1980s, such as Votre Portrait and the series Portrait of Artist in Crisis, which are also held in the Pinault Collection. All convey an aesthetics of fragmented bodies, to which the artist brings irony in the spirit of Neo Dada. Another leitmotiv, the birdcage appears as a metaphor of the responsibility or disarray of a man in poor condition as he faces the excesses of our individualistic and consumerist society.
Held by the Pinault Collection, Paradise was presented to the public in the show À Triple tour. Collection Pinault (“triple locked”) at the Paris Conciergerie, in 2013.
Exhibitions
Tetsumi KUDO © Adagp, Paris.
Photo: Bernard Saint-Genes
Courtesy Galerie Albert Benamou, Paris
