![]() Every individual piece of artwork has its own unique voice, expressing a certain purpose. Before they even begin crafting, artists have a specific message they want to convey to their audience. In our contemporary society, more and more people are repurposing art by putting their own spin on original, often times very famous pieces, in order to create their own meanings. Many instances of this include the theme of technology. Technology has been evolving for many years now – from the first cell phone to today’s high-tech Apple smartphones. Along with this came the evolution of society, which has caused a variety of famous pieces to be repurposed or adapted to fit more current views. An example of this “repurposing” approach is apparent in artist Anthony Rubino’s “Son of Man Apple Computer Logo,” which is an appropriation of the original “The Son of Man” by René Magritte. The main purpose of this appropriation is to shed a light on how digital technologies have introduced a new way for people to have identities that they prefer others not to see.
René Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist who was well known for his many thought-provoking images. He attended school in Brussels, and eventually found a career in commercial advertising while also crafting some of his most famous pieces. By the mid 1920s, he was known for painting in the surrealist style, creating witty and stimulating images. In most of his paintings, Magritte used simple everyday objects and gave them new meanings to fulfill a deeper purpose (Biography.com Editors). His piece, “The Son of Man,” was unveiled in 1964, and is a self-portrait of Magritte himself. In this painting, he focuses on the concept of what is seen and unseen, which is depicted through a symbol of an apple in front of his face. This work is also part of a series that contains similar concepts. The other pieces are called “Man in the Bowler Hat” and “The Great War of the Facades,” and feature a man in a bowler hat with a bird in front of his face, as well as a woman in a white dress with a flower in front of her face (Totally History). Magritte’s fascination with objects veiling the face may be related to the death of his mother when he was young. His mother committed suicide by drowning herself in a river, and when she was found, her face was covered by her dress (Joshi). |
Although there is controversy over the true (and full) meaning of the painting, Magritte explains that he is focusing on the concept of what is seen and unseen. He says:
It’s something that happens constantly. Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present. (Renemagritte.org)
using the apple, as it represents the “forbidden fruit” in the Garden of Eden. Some view the painting as if the man is taking a bite of the apple, which Eve (from the Garden of Eden) was told not to do in the bible. This action also represents sin. Regardless, this man has something he wants kept concealed to the audience, which is what most scholars agree is Magritte’s most important goal. No matter who a person is, there are certain aspects of their identity they want to remain unknown to others. As discussed above, Magritte’s mother was found with her face covered after her suicide, which is what most likely fueled his fascination with the artistic technique. He ultimately used this idea to perhaps mask his own insecurities and secrets through this painting.
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![]() We see that the meaning behind Magritte’s original painting still thrives in our society; it is human nature to shadow behind facades that appear to be so real. However, at our contemporary moment in the digital age, many of us find ourselves hiding behind something else: a screen. Now, we have endless platforms where we can connect with other people, both as ourselves or anonymously if we choose to do so. Social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram both open us up to the world around us, but also shelter us off from having meaningful, face to face interactions in many ways. Ultimately, the introduction of social networking platforms and the tangible devices themselves have allowed us to be whoever we wish to be. Magritte lived during a time when masking your identity was much more difficult, whereas now we see episodes of “catfishing” on an almost daily basis. In the digital age, “catfishing” is defined as “the phenomenon of internet predators that fabricate online identities and entire social circles to trick people into emotional/romantic relationships” ("Catfishing"). However, the term is not specific to just predator-types, or people specifically seeking an online relationship; anyone who poses as someone they are not online is known to be a “catfish.” This is also the most extreme example of how digital technologies keep our identities masked. People have the ability to change minor things about themselves, keep certain pieces of information hidden, or remain completely anonymous in general. This stigma has made it almost culturally acceptable for us to keep ourselves distant from the people we claim to be “friends” with on social media. Our technological revolution has changed the meaning of interaction in more ways than one. Realizing this, artist Anthony Rubino decided to express our cultural shift by repurposing Magritte’s famous image.
Born in New Jersey as a first generation Italian American, Anthony Rubino grew up in a traditional Roman-Catholic household. Throughout his childhood, despite his traditional home-life physique, he developed a deep love for humor. His fascination with comedy led him to pursue a career in comics, as well as produce individual paintings that have landed in nationally renowned galleries. Rubino describes his style as something that “seeks to comment on pop culture, celebrity, nostalgia and the current melees' of information received through technology” (Rubino Fine Art). In other words, Rubino seeks out to make old art “relevant” again by recreating the themes to fit our modern age. This idea is carried out in his piece “Rene Magritte Son of Man Apple Computer Logo.” While the title of his piece is lacking in creativity, his overall message is deeply and complexly rooted in the psyche of digital America. |