Beckham and Madonna get stained
The Beckhams, Kylie Minogue, Madonna and a host of other celebrities feature in a mock religious stained glass window by digital artist Ella Bissett Johnson in Hatfield, England.
The 6m installation, which takes the form of a digital print looking like stained glass, will hang in front of the gallery windows turning the space into a church-like shrine.
Digital artist Ella Bissett Johnson has made the piece specifically for the space in the Art and Design Gallery at UH Galleries.
Ella takes her inspiration from The Last Judgment by Michelangelo, replacing his saints and martyrs with modern day icons and heroes floating in a landscape which combines popular culture, advertising, the media and traditional folklore.
Ella feels that her artwork questions the role of celebrity in modern society and the increasing obsession with celebrities and the products they endorse. By presenting them enshrined in the style of a religious painting, Ella says she is suggesting that hero worship and consumerism have become our modern day religion.
Ella ran a series of workshops for young people which fed into the ideas she has been working on for her designs for this installation.
She said: “Young people are targeted by advertisers and have become obsessed with designer labels and new technology. A flurry of celebrity magazines have hit the newsagents in the last five years which allow us (invited or uninvited) into the lives of our favourite celebs.
“Even the big name fashion mags now have spin off versions targeted at the teenager market, cashing in on the trend that kids as young as eight want to be wearing designer labels.”
Ella said that peer pressure to aspire to the dizzying heights of celebrity is enormous, as teenagers seek to emulate Britney or Kylie: “Self-image is everything. With reality TV shows like Pop Idol and Big Brother there is now a very real perception that anyone, no matter how untalented and uninteresting, can not only have Warhol‘s 15 minutes of fame but a short-lived celebrity career which can bring instant wealth.”
Exhibition details
Where: University of Hertfordshire Galleries, Art and Design gallery, Hatfield
When: 11 March – 16 April 2005
Gallery opening hours: Monday – Saturday, 9.30am – 5.30pm
Source: BBC