Once upon a time, art imitated life. Then, life imitated art. Now it seems that life draws its very reason for existence from image-based media.
Florence studios have a series of figurines that allude to famous art icons. What’s different is that all the figurines have (shall-we-say) high BMI’s.
Interesting examples include Venus – an obvious reference to Botticelli’s Birth of Venus – and David (modeled after Michelangelo’s David).
Michelangelo’s David (left),
and the figurine “David” from Florence Studios (right).
See the “Beautifully Big” collection from Florence Studios, Italy.
David is the wee wee!
Myself, I need constant reminders about what could happen if I overindulge and don’t exercise. Obesity runs in my family, and I have seen the effects that it can and has had. I’m not what anyone would consider skinny and probably never will be. I just know I feel a lot better when I exercise and eat right.
in refrence to tte guy who didnt want the figurines to be taken as a joke becasue there are fat people:
FAT people are fun to deride and mock, so why not make figurines doing the same thing with a twist?
it makes sense….
There’s nothing wrong with being fat. And these are not just fat but very fat figures. I think it’s wonderful to see a figure that looks fat, like me. Look at the other figures and see how joyful most are. I don’t think they’re hurtful at all. I think they’re saying “LOOK! I’m fat! I’m beautiful! I’m happy!”
They’re beautiful! They look so joyful and vibrant! I would love to have one! I don’t think they’re promoting anything bad. Everyone is different, a different color, shape, and size. Why not have fat art? Thin art is beautiful. But so is this. I want one to represent the happiness that I, a fat, healthy, active person feel every day.
The point of the Grecian statues were to idealize the beauty of the form. They were a study of compositional balance. The contemporary art world is trying to create a sensationalism and forgetting the point of art, which was never to be political, even with the majority of patrons being wealthy. Art was an occupation and passion. It was not politicians with chisels and a rock.
These statues do not emphasize good composition, or a beauty of form. The execution is poor.
I would agree with other posts that it is all in good fun.
Interesting–unlike Botero’s figures which have volumn without mass, these emphasize mass–folds, gravity, weightiness.
I do have an issue with most of the figures having the requisite jolly fat person look regardless of whether or not it seems appropriate to what the person is depicted as doing.
This bothers me– a lot. I have a feeling people will take these as a joke, or funny.
Fat is a characteristic– it is NOT a humor device. Acting like it is, well, is shallow and hurtful.
Speaking of all this, there was a good news story on NPR this morning about Leonard Nimoy’s new book containing photos from his Full Body series. See his web page for details: http://www.leonardnimoyphotography.com
These are so funny!
Never teh bride,
It would go with my bordeaux couch and wenge furniture… a touch of color and good humour!
I don’t use plastic couch covers and I would love to have that Venus figurine, it’s so funny
Anyway, I totally agree with you, people tend to overanalize things. Just because most of us have some extra kilos doesn’t mean that the figurine makers are making a statment about obesity. We are not the center of the world!
)
I think people will overthink these figurines to death, analyzing how they’ll affect people’s perceptions and so on. But come on, it’s just a bit of fun. If I sketch out a copy of a famous work, but put an afro on the Mona Lisa or something like that, I’m not trying to make a grand statement.
Besides, a quick look at Florence Studio’s offerings (sold in shops pushing the finest in ugly kitsch “art”) tells me that they are nothing if not entirely un-serious about the figures they design. It’s grandma chic all the way, designed to compliment your plastic couch covers.
i think these are brilliant. i think you all would remember when that saying came out about “if i can’t be skinny please make all my friends fat”… this reminds me of that!
Gosh, I think they’re just fantastic! Are they expensive? I don’t think that they are promoting obesity, they are just nice and funny stuff. Not eveything in this world has to be serious and art certainly hasn’t
Putting a few kilos on Venus is an experiment, is playing with old icons, not a statment about health and fitness! Since when does art have to be politicaly correct???
i like them.
They’re funny…
So are these figurines supposed to be a promotion of health and fitness? There’s absolutely nothing wrong (in fact, I believe it’s essential) to loving yourself as you are now, but if you do truly love and care for yourself, which includes loving your body, then you will take care of it. Why take better care of your car or pet than you do your own body?
Well it worked for Botero
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Botero
There has always been art that depicts the common people. David and Venus were meant to depict ideals. “The Grecian ideal”.
These figurines are therefore pointless.
BTW, ideals, I believe, are still a good thing to have!
Why’d they go and ruin all those famous art figures? I think it’s pretty disrespectful. Even the figures like “Venus” that are voluptuous anyway weren’t THAT fat. And David just looks ridiculous.
I don’t know, it seems to me like art has always drawn from the high class of society. It’s never really been a depiction of the general public. Back when fluffy and pasty was a trait of the upper class there was a lot of art depicting these types of people. Now, art goes for the high fashioned perfect body, the new traits to aspire to. It tends to be the idealized, albeit, rare body type that is portrayed in art.
Please! Let’s stop the madness!