Francesco Vezzoli

Gagosian Gallery, Rome
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Rome, Gagosian Gallery, Greed, A New Fragrance by Francesco Vezzoli, 2009
Murcia, La Conservera, Cycle 6, 2011

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although it fails to fully convey the brocade on the Greed bottle apparent in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition.
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Executed in 2009 Tamara de Lempicka forms part of Francesco Vezzoli’s innovative conceptual project Greed, a captivating manifestation of the artist's continued fascination with popular culture. Directed by Roman Polanski Greed adopts the visual language of a contemporary perfume commercial. Presenting Natalie Portman and Michele Williams in a vicious quarrel over the possession of the perfume bottle, the 60-second film encapsulates the director's characteristic dark and cynical cinematic vision, as well as Vezzoli's on-going conceptual preoccupations.

With its title alluding to Erich von Stroheim’s famous silent film from 1924, the concept draws connection to both Louis Feuillade's 1915 serial ‘Les Vampires’ as well as Marcel Duchamp’s 1921 ‘Belle Haleine: Eau de Voilette’. A replica of the 1915 bottle designed by Rigaud, the first ever fashion house to create a successful perfume, the design is a direct continuation of Duchamp's own appropriation of the sumptuous brand. Turning the sought after commodity into one of his progressive ready-mades, the Dadaist embellished the bottle with the iconic image of his multifaceted pseudonym and alter-ego Rose Sélavy, famously photographed by his good friend Man Ray. In a similar vein the label of Vezzoli's own perfume bottle showcases a striking portrait of the artist dressed in drag. Mirroring Duchamp's visual appropriation, the artist continues emblematic art historical explorations of gender duality and authorship, whilst infusing an out-dated visual language with a contemporary flair in order to continue his discerning representation of the frivolous tendencies of our contemporary consumer culture. Witty and incisive in its critique the artist himself describes the work as: “the immodest attempt to mirror society’s silliest vices and devices” (Vezzoli in an interview in:  ‘Greed, by Francesco Vezzoli, Rome’, Wallpaper Magazine, February 2009).

An assemblage of codified visual and intellectual references the commercial is accompanied by a series of delicately embroidered petit point portraits. An homage to the artistic achievements of iconic female personas of the twentieth century, the works include images of sculptor Eva Hesse, American photographer Lee Miller and the surrealist painter Leonor Fini. The present work, an elegant depiction of Tamara de Lempicka, heralds the artistic achievements of the famous Polish painter, whose unique and defined artistic style epitomised the sophisticate and glamorous era of Art Deco. Exalted as an immortalised endorsement of Vezzoli’s tantalising fragrance, the artist's graceful profile is framed by a lavish baroque frame. The single beaded tear that flows down her cheek highlights the subtle melancholic undertones that accompany the commercial. An intricately detailed background of pearlescent blue sky exemplifies Vezzoli's exceptional aptitude for the unusual medium of needlepoint. As acknowledged by the artist himself, embroidery traditionally evokes a feminine domain: "Women are embroiderers almost by definition because they are custodians of a world of feelings that is diluted in Embroidery" (The artist cited in: Germano Celant, Francesco Vezzoli, Milan 2004, p. 26). Employing the traditional connotations of the medium as a vessel to endow the iconic pictures of popular personalities with a profound sensitivity and emotion, Vezzoli creates a multifaceted representation of the seductive power of contemporary media within the framework of our consumer driven popular culture.