Pool & Marianela

PLASTIC RELIGION

December 2 – 31, 2016

POOL & MARIANELA
PLASTIC RELIGION
December 2 – 31, 2016

Opening Reception: Friday, December 2nd 8PM
Pool & Marianela – Plastic Religion

In 2014, two Argentine artists, Marianela Perelli and Pool Paolini, turned 33 models of Barbie and Ken into religious icons for an exhibition called “Barbie, the Plastic Religion“. The show featured Barbie as the Virgin Mary and Ken as Jesus Christ, and included religious figures from Catholicism, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism with versions of Barbie as Joan of Arc, Mary Magdalene and the Virgin of Lourdes. The show provoked widespread controversy in several languages from Argentina to France.

In 2016, the artists were invited by Mattel and Les Art Decoratifs to display four of their pieces in the museum of decorative arts in the Palais du Louvre, Paris, and were also received in the Vatican by Pope Francis who accepted a gift of their Barbie, “Our Lady of Lujan“.

During the month of December, Pool and Marianela will be presenting their “Barbie, the Plastic Religion” in Los Angeles at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. Among the numerous pieces in the exhibition, the artists will be displaying two new paintings created in the style of Byzantine icon (gold leaf), portraits of Barbie (“Our Lady of Mattel”) and Ken (“Sacred Heart of Mattel”); 12 Via Crucis altarpieces; an eight piece nativity scene; 13 small good leaf paintings; and a Barbie Porsche 911 with Ken as Krishna, Buddah and Jesus.