Title
CUT-COPY-PASTE exhibition
Duration
30 July 2014 to 25 September 2014
Venue
Beers Contemporary gallery
Location
United Kingdom
Visit Website
Detailed Information
TitleCUT-COPY-PASTE exhibitionDuration30 July 2014 to 25 September 2014VenueBeers Contemporary gallery
Location
United Kingdom
Visit Website

''The whole is greater than the sum of its parts,'' said Aristotle, a phrase often quoted in scientific fields such as gestalt psychology – but which can also lead to monstrous results if misunderstood, as Mary Shelley so luridly demonstrated in her classic, ‘Frankenstein’. Using a technique similar to that of Dr. Frankenstein’s, without however being so atrocious and nightmarish, American artist Michael Mapes creates, or sometimes re-creates, portraits of people by putting together pieces of photos and other objects, all placed in cases reminiscent of the cabinets used by entomologists for their insect collections. Intentionally forensic in their aesthetic, Mapes’ portraits are like swarms of smaller portraits of the person they depict: tiny versions of the original portrait or dissected parts of it are pinned on the board, or are sometimes set inside small transparent vials and behind magnifying lenses just like scientific samples. Having created many portraits of people in this way, more recently Michael Mapes has begun a series of works based on famous portraits by great Dutch painters from the 16th-17th centuries.

Michael Mapes, Blauw-girl, 201428"w x 34h x 3.5dphotographs, painted photographs, fabric samples, rope, sand, coffee, tea, tea bags, sugar, driftwood, hair, cast resin, plastic boxes, doll parts, thread, insect pins, gelatin capsules, specimen bags, petri dishes, magnifying boxes

Michael Mapes, Blauw-girl, 2014
28"w x 34h x 3.5d
photographs, painted photographs, fabric samples, rope, sand, coffee, tea, tea bags, sugar, driftwood, hair, cast resin, plastic boxes, doll parts, thread, insect pins, gelatin capsules, specimen bags, petri dishes, magnifying boxes

Michael Mapes, from the ‘Dutch Master collection’, 2014.

Michael Mapes, from the ‘Dutch Master collection’, 2014.

Michael Mapes, Blauw-girl, 2014 (detail).

Michael Mapes, Blauw-girl, 2014 (detail).

Michael Mapes, Blauw-girl, 2014 (detail).

Michael Mapes, Blauw-girl, 2014 (detail).

Michael Mapes, Dutch male specimen: J, 201428"w x 24h x 3.5dphotographs,  painted photographs, fabric samples, rope, sand, sea shells, coffee,  tea, tea bags, tobacco, gunpowder, sugar, driftwood, hair, cast resin,  clay, thread, insect pins, capsules, specimen bags, magnifying boxes

Michael Mapes, Dutch male specimen: J, 2014
28"w x 24h x 3.5d
photographs, painted photographs, fabric samples, rope, sand, sea shells, coffee, tea, tea bags, tobacco, gunpowder, sugar, driftwood, hair, cast resin, clay, thread, insect pins, capsules, specimen bags, magnifying boxes

Michael Mapes, Dutch male specimen: J, 2014 (detail).

Michael Mapes, Dutch male specimen: J, 2014 (detail).

Michael Mapes, Dutch specimen MT2, 2013 (detail).

Michael Mapes, Dutch specimen MT2, 2013 (detail).

Michael Mapes, Anonymous Young Woman, 2014 (detail).

Michael Mapes, Anonymous Young Woman, 2014 (detail).

Anonymous female specimen, 201428"w x 24h x 3.5dphotographs, fabric samples, painted photographs, botanical specimens,  x-rays, tea, tobacco, coffee, cast resin, clay, thread, dental floss, insect pins, capsules, specimen bags, magnifying boxes

Anonymous female specimen, 2014
28"w x 24h x 3.5d
photographs, fabric samples, painted photographs, botanical specimens,  x-rays, tea, tobacco, coffee, cast resin, clay, thread, dental floss, insect pins, capsules, specimen bags, magnifying boxes

Michael Mapes, 21 yr old Dutch female, 201423"w x 28" h x 3" dphotographic prints, insect pins, pinning foam,, gelatin capsules, glass vials, painted canvas, petri dish, sequins, pill organizer, plastic specimen bags, cotton thread, cotton, cosmetic samples, costume jewelry, human hair (two sources), fabric samples, fingerprint, dried botanical specimen, perfume.

Michael Mapes, 21 yr old Dutch female, 2014
23"w x 28" h x 3" d
photographic prints, insect pins, pinning foam,, gelatin capsules, glass vials, painted canvas, petri dish, sequins, pill organizer, plastic specimen bags, cotton thread, cotton, cosmetic samples, costume jewelry, human hair (two sources), fabric samples, fingerprint, dried botanical specimen, perfume.

His fragmented 3D portraits offer two ways of looking at them: from afar, they look like a pixelated image of the person they depict, while from up close, they reveal their smaller details, including samples of handwriting, locks of hair, photos of relatives and jewellery – items that make up what he describes as the person’s ‘‘biographical DNA.’’ Each ‘specimen’ on the board is different from the rest, creating an elaborate collection of ‘findings’ that have been evidently put together quite painstakingly (dare we say, obsessively?). Works by Michael Mapes (including new works from the ‘Dutch Master collection’) are currently on display at the Beers Contemporary gallery in London, as part of the CUT-COPY-PASTE group exhibition (open through 27 September, 2014).

Michael Mapes, case no. M, 201411"w x 11h x 3.5dphotographs, botanical specimens, fabric samples, black pepper, tea, coffee, clay, cotton, thread, insect pins, capsules, specimen bags, perfume vials, test tube

Michael Mapes, case no. M, 2014
11"w x 11h x 3.5d
photographs, botanical specimens, fabric samples, black pepper, tea, coffee, clay, cotton, thread, insect pins, capsules, specimen bags, perfume vials, test tube

Michael Mapes, Adriana: female, 201428"w x 24h x 3.5dphotographs, fabric samples, painted photographs, botanical specimens, hair, crystals, costume jewelry, spices, cast resin, clay, thread, insect pins, capsules, specimen bags, perfume vials

Michael Mapes, Adriana: female, 2014
28"w x 24h x 3.5d
photographs, fabric samples, painted photographs, botanical specimens, hair, crystals, costume jewelry, spices, cast resin, clay, thread, insect pins, capsules, specimen bags, perfume vials

Michael Mapes, female: G, 201423"w x 28h x 3dphotographs, fabric samples, painted photographs, botanical specimens, hair, costume jewelry, tobacco, clay, thread, insect pins, capsules, magnifying box, plastic boxes, glass vial

Michael Mapes, female: G, 2014
23"w x 28h x 3d
photographs, fabric samples, painted photographs, botanical specimens, hair, costume jewelry, tobacco, clay, thread, insect pins, capsules, magnifying box, plastic boxes, glass vial

Michael Mapes, female: G, 2014 (detail).

Michael Mapes, female: G, 2014 (detail).

Michael Mapes, specimen no. 1 1, 200716"w x 14" h x 3" dphotographic prints, misc printed material, insect pins, pinning foam, glass vials, magnifiers, gelatin capsules, plastic bags

Michael Mapes, specimen no. 1 1, 2007
16"w x 14" h x 3" d
photographic prints, misc printed material, insect pins, pinning foam, glass vials, magnifiers, gelatin capsules, plastic bags

Michael Mapes, female: G, 2014 (detail).

Michael Mapes, female: G, 2014 (detail).

Michael Mapes, specimen no. 1 1, 2007 (detail).

Michael Mapes, specimen no. 1 1, 2007 (detail).

The Peculiar Fragmented Portraiture of Michael Mapes

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