Artist: Stephen Hansen
Title: The Birthday (Chagall)
Medium: Acrylic/Paper Mache'
Dimensions: 20.25"h x 25.5"w
"The Birthday (Chagall)" is a vibrant and dynamic painting and sculpture pairing. It features a whimsical and surreal scene, attributed to Chagall's "The Birthday," within an interior space. The characters and space defy gravity. The environment is composed of various skewed perspectives and disproportionate furnishings. The entire scene is characterized by the interplay of bright and bold colors, whimsical elements, and perspective distortions that give it an energy and motion, creating a narrative that draws the viewer into the depicted moment of interaction between the two figures. In front of this scene, standing on a scaffolding, is a three-dimensional figure. The painter, also defying gravity, holds his brush and puts the finishing touches on the woman's bouquet of flowers. Overall, Hansen has captured the whimsicality of the original painting, while also seamlessly incorporating his painter character into the scene.