This work is a fusion of two iconic works of 20th century art: Andy Warhol's Marilyn and Marcel Duchamp's 1919 adaptation of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.
The Dalí-like beard that Duchamp gave his Mona Lisa is now worn by Marilyn in this case, and the sequence of letters of Duchamp's postcard Mona Lisa also refer to Marilyn here: "L.H.O.O.Q." - a suggestive play on words. In French pronunciation, the sentence "elle a chaud au cul" is onomatopoeic, which literally means "she has a hot ass", but in French colloquial language means sexual arousal. In addition to the intended vulgar attack on the world's most famous painting, Duchamp also alludes to one of the many interpretations surrounding the identity of the Mona Lisa: a secret self-portrait of da Vinci as a woman.
In this small, humorous painting, Pettibone unleashes an almost infinite spectrum of references and levels of interpretation, ranging from the Renaissance to the 20th century and involving art, trivial culture and the mass media.
Provenance available
