Roitburd VS Caravaggio. Opus # 001 2009

Alexander Roitburd made "Roitburd VS Caravaggio. Opus # 001" using I don’t know what, but I can see how the colours vibrate against that dark background. It's like Roitburd is conducting a conversation between centuries. Look closely, and you’ll see how Roitburd takes what might be a heavy, serious Caravaggio and zaps it with a kind of cartoonish energy. The texture is smooth, almost glossy, but then he's laid these neon lines on top, thick and fast. It’s like he’s dissecting the old master's forms, or maybe just giving them a playful nudge. Notice the neon green around the central figure, it almost feels like he’s electrified with a contemporary current. This dialogue between past and present echoes artists like Francis Picabia, who similarly wasn't afraid to mess with art history. It makes you think, what is art but an ongoing game of telephone, each artist adding their own accent?