When people think of classical art they usually imagine traditional oil paintings with flowers, fruits, or countryside landscapes. But this doesn’t mean they can’t feature cans of Pringles, an entire McDonalds Big Mac menu, or even Pennywise. At least that’s what New York-based artist Dave Pollot thinks.
Pollot is known for his work on altering abandoned classical oil paintings by inserting pop culture references into them. He finds the artwork in thrift shops or online, purchases it, and then paints “new life into old art” as he puts it on social media.
Pollot started altering classical art in 2012 as a joke between him and his wife, but this quickly developed into a passion project for him. Since then, his works have been exhibited all over the world and have attracted the attention of numerous art collectors.
“I think that my body of work has challenged the idea that any one piece of artwork is without a place, especially if it can be retrofitted to reflect a more culturally relevant set of ideas.” – says Pollot on his official website. “It’s also questioned the idea of who (generationally and otherwise) can claim ownership of the pop culture of a given time period – it’s sought to introduce a younger audience to older artistic styles, and a potentially older audience to a broader set of pop culture.”
