Dutch 17th Century Portraits Captured In Biographical Dna-Mosaics By Ny Artist Michael Mapes

Michael Mapes, an American artist, takes a forensic approach to art history. The New Yorker pieces together portraits by Dutch Masters by dissecting photographs of the paintings and collecting their fragments in glass vials, plastic bags and on the end of insect pins.

Michael Mapes was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky in 1962. He was educated as a graphic designer and later received a Masters degree with an emphasis in studio art.

The curator Brian Hannon writes, “Not only are his works interesting studies in their own right, but they further challenge us to question the ways in which scientific information is assimilated into a culture. His unique appropriation of traditional ideas on portraiture and entomology, taxonomy and forensic science convey the inherent tension between a methodical objectivity and an unavoidable psychological subjectivity”.

So while the original images of the Dutch Masters are being displayed in the Rijksmuseum, 1 door away, these images can be seen in a whole new composition at Morren Galleries.

More info: morrengalleries.nl