EXAMPLES EXPLANATION

Andy Warhol, “Campbells’ Soup Cans” (1962)

The images of Campbell soup cans are clearly appropriated. He copied the original labels exactly but
filled up the entire picture plane with their iconic appearance. Unlike other garden-variety still-lifes,
these works look like portraits of a soup can.

The brand is the image's identity. Warhol isolated the image of these products to stimulate product
recognition (as is done in advertising) and stir up associations with the idea of Campbell's soup. He
wanted you to think of that "Mmm Mmm Good" feeling.

At the same time, he also tapped into a whole bunch of other associations, such as consumerism,
commercialism, big business, fast food, middle-class values, and food representing love. As an
appropriated image, these specific soup labels could resonate with meaning (like a stone tossed into a
pond) and so much more.

Damien Hirst, Emms V. Hirst

Hirst was sued for breach of copyright over his sculpture Hymm in 2000. The subject was a ‘Young
Scientist Anatomy Set’ belonging to his son Connor, 10,000 of which are sold a year by Hull (Emms) Toy
Manufacturer. Hirst created a 20-foot, six ton enlargement of the Science Set figure, radically changing
the perception of the object. The artist paid an undisclosed sum to two charities, Children Nationwide
and the Toy Trust in an out-of-court settlement.

KATHLEEN GILJE, “BACCHUS RESTORED” (1992)

Kathleen Gilje appropriates masterpieces in order to comment on the original content and propose
another. In "Bacchus, Restored" (1992), she appropriated Caravaggio's "Bacchus" (ca. 1595) and added
open condoms to the festive offerings of wine and fruit on the table. Painted when AIDS had taken the
lives of so many artists, the artist was commenting on unprotected sex as the new forbidden fruit.

Bacchus was painted shortly after Caravaggio joined the household of his first important
patron, Cardinal Del Monte, and reflects the humanist interests of the Cardinal's educated circle. It was
not in the cardinal's collection at his death, and may have been a gift to the Grand Duke in Florence. It
was unknown until 1913.[1] When it was found in a storeroom of the Uffizi Galleries, it had never been
catalogued or framed.[2]

Marcel Duchamp, L.H.O.O.Q. (1919)

L.H.O.O.Q. is a cheap postcard reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa onto which Duchamp
drew a moustache and beard in pencil. The masculinized female introduces the theme of gender
reversal which was popular with Duchamp, who adopted his own female pseudonym. La Joconde
instantly became his most famous readymade and a symbol for the international Dada movement,
which rebelled against everything that art represented, particularly the appeal to tradition and beauty.
Robert Colesscott, Les Demoiselles d’Alabama, (1985)

Above we see a contemporary example of appropriation, a painting which borrows its narrative and
composition from the infamous Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Picasso. Here Colesscott has developed
Picasso’s abstraction and ‘Africanism’ in line with European influences. Colescott has made this famous
image his own, in terms of color and content, while still making his inspiration clear. The historical
reference to Picasso is there, but this is undeniably the artist’s own work.

Barbara Kruger, “Hoepker V. Kruger”

Plaintiffs Hoepker, a German photographer, and his model sued Barbara Kruger for copyright
infringement and invasion of privacy. Kruger, a well-known artist specializing in composite works
combining photographs and texts, had taken Hoepker’s photograph of the model holding a magnifying
glass over her eye, and superimposed the words “It’s a small world but not if you have to clean it” on
top of it. With Kruger’s permission, the Museum of Contemporary Art L.A. and the Whitney Museum of
American Art in New York (also defendants) publicized the exhibit in newsletters and brochures and
featured the composite on postcards, note cubes, magnets and t-shirts and in exhibit catalogues. Given
that the photograph was in the public domain in the United States, the artist subsequently won the
case.

Shepard Fairey, “AP V. Fairey”

The famous street artist was sued by the AP for his appropriation of a photograph of Barack Obama that
the artist used to create the iconic “HOPE” poster for Obama’s presidential campaign. The case
eventually settled, but the questions raised regarding the limits of fair use continue.

Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917

in April 1917, Duchamp submitted a urinal the artist had purchased in the showroom of J. L. Mott Iron
Works. He turned the object on its side and placed it on a pedestal, undermining its utilitarian
associations. He then signed it “R. Mutt 1917” and named it Fountain. The piece inspired heated
argument among the society’s directors and was finally rejected an hour before the exhibition opened,
but went on the form the concept of the ‘readymade’ in art.