Le fou I.

Interpretation:

This ink-based drawing is inspired by old French “La Vie Parisienne” advertisements from the 1920s. I was immensely intrigued by these advertisements because of the characters. Every advertisement always had a stunning illustration of a beautiful woman, and next to her a silly, aloof clown man who she is completely unimpressed by. This got me thinking. If I were a woman in the 1920s looking at this show advertisement, I’d want to go for the sole amusement of seeing the man dressed as a clown acting all silly and aloof. If I were a man looking at this advertisement, I’d most likely be going for the entertainment of seeing this stunning woman presented. It is an ironic form of storytelling technique. The artist is creating a compelling visual narrative of the stunning woman, seeming more powerful and dominant, and the clown failing to impress her, to resonate with audience members in different ways and forging an emotional connection that makes you want to go to this show. With that, I wanted to create another version of such a drawing from my deeper perspective of it.