Description
‘Bubble In’ by Jonathan Ouisse
Artist: Jonathan Ouisse
Title: ‘Bubble In’
Medium: Acrylic on black Fabriano paper mounted on wood
Dimensions: 9.85″ x 9.85″
Framing: Framed
Year of Creation: 2024
Artwork Will Ship From: Hungary
About the Artwork:
“This surreal figurative painting offers a profound meditation on the complex relationship between humanity, nature and civilisation. The orangutan holding the hand of a skeleton wearing Nike shoes symbolises the destruction of nature by human activity, while the dilapidated, graffitied interior suggests a world in decline. The presence of dogs cuddling evokes a desire for connection and compassion, contrasting with the surrounding chaos. Rembrandt’s painting of a bygone era seems a sad observation of the current situation, perhaps underlining the loss of values and meaning in contemporary society?
The yellow paint splashed across Rembrandt’s painting highlights the conflict between ancient traditions and contemporary protest movements. It highlights the tension between cultural and artistic heritage and modern concerns such as the protest against oil exploitation. This radical action demonstrates a desire to disrupt the established order and make a voice of resistance heard, even at the cost of disfiguring classical art. In this way, Rembrandt’s painting itself becomes a symbol of the struggle to preserve the environment and fundamental values.” – Jonathan Ouisse
About the Artist:
(Artist Statement)
In Ouisse’s work, protagonists and animals gravitate in a world where they are mistreated. Often grotesque, exhibiting mockery and derision, it is full of symbols inspired by political matters, the media and childhood without ever becoming a mere cliché. Influenced by the pictorial gesture of the Italian Renaissance, the claroscuro, the style is precise and the lighting is dramatic. Firmly rooted in the nineties his work is influenced by an urban culture and the traits associated with this culture will undoubtedly make an impression on those who see it.
The burlesque, a subversive process which ironizes a dramatic story tinted with misanthropy is often employed by directors such as Emir Kusturica, Federico Fellini and even Monty Python, all of whom have used or still use the Burlesque at its paroxysm. Jonathan created images in the same manner, where the comical becomes the central idea and Jonathan Ouisse develops the process by mishandling the human race, both ridiculing it and laughing at its oversized vanity.