Art Basel Miami: Alex Guofeng Cao’s Small Image/Big Image Photographs

You think you’re looking at yet another image of Barack Obama, but then you step closer to realize this black and white portrait photograph is made up of hundreds of tiny photographic images of Abraham Lincoln. Alex Guofeng Cao is a Chinese artist based in New York who grabs the most famous of celebrity icons and pairs them with similar icons.  He provides a visual reminder of the tensions which exist between the relationships and the contribution they have made to social discourse; Brad Pitt is made up of Angelina Jolie, Princess Diana of Grace Kelly, JFK of Marilyn Monroe and Marilyn Monroe made up of JFK.  All of these figures have played an almost God-like role to their audiences, each of them unreachable stars in their own rights who have made indelible marks in the communities they derive from.  By encouraging this interplay between two differing yet interchangeable icons, Alex Guofeng Cao adds even more mystery to the impact of each of their reputations on popular culture.  The image of Carla Bruni, made up of tiny images of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, sold on opening night at Photo Miami during Art Basel Miami 2009.

Photo via Alex Guofeng Cao